Ties That Bind
by Dogstar-Black
Summary: After the events of Protective Reasoning, the team decides they've earned a well deserved vacation and head out to Malibu for a couple weeks. As they should have expected, however, with the Avengers there can't just be a simple, relaxing vacation. No, no, no. That'd be much too easy. *Part of my Protective Reasoning universe, but can be read alone.* Tony/Pepper Clint/Natasha
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone and welcome to Ties That Bind.**

**To everyone that is new to my Avengers fics, they should know that this story is part of my Protective Reasoning universe, and is in fact the sequel to Protective Reasoning. They can be read together or apart if you want, there'll just be some things referenced that you don't really get. I would appreciate you giving both Protective Reasoning and it's prequel Home Sweet Home a read though.**

**And to those of you who aren't new... Holy Smokes! You people reached over a_ hundred_ reviews for Home Sweet Home. That's just... I have no words for how awesome you people are. Thank you!**

**Anyway, I'd love if you'd be willing to give me some feedback to this story as well, and I do try to reply to every review I get. It's worked out pretty well so far.**

**Not much action in this chapter, but trust me, that will change with time. Looking at my current plans for this story, it's probably going to be the longest yet, somewhere between 10 and 15 chapters. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into here...**

**Please read and enjoy.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

Clint gave a slightly aggravated sigh as he caught the paper ball he'd created for himself at the beginning of the flight in his hand for the 352nd time, from where he was sitting perched on the back of one of the seats, looking bored out of his mind for all intents and purposes.

Sure, they all agreed that two weeks in Stark's Malibu house would be a good vacation, and an easy excuse to get out of the freezing New York snow, but he didn't understand why the flight had to be so long and horrendously boring.

It had been a month since the fiasco involving former General Ross and Victor Simmons; two weeks since Clint had personally delivered the other files to Bruce, and _finally_ the archer's ribs had managed to stop aching when he did more than sit up and walk to an elevator. He was positively gleeful, seeing as the team hadn't so much as let him step foot in the training gym, or pick up his bow until Bruce had cleared him, which had happened only hours before. And now, when he finally had the ability to get up and do something, he was stuck in a plane.

If it had been anyone but the other Avengers that had tried to bench him like they had been for the past month, Clint would have been livid, and he would have informed the offending parties of that fact, before laughing in their faces and doing whatever he wanted anyway. But some annoying little voice in the back of his mind told him that his team, and Pepper, were only worried about him in a way that he couldn't remember anyone but Phil and Natasha being for him. So he'd gone along with it, no matter how much he hated it. It helped that Tony had JARVIS sound an annoying, loud and obnoxious alarm whenever he had approached the gym from any direction.

He looked around himself in boredom, and unsurprisingly saw that his teammates were in the same places they had been for the past three hours on the Stark Industries jet. Tony and Bruce were bent over a tablet, arguing quietly with one another as they worked on something that was probably out of his realm of caring enough to dissect the meaning of. Pepper was a seat away from Tony, working on something on her laptop that probably had to do with making sure her two-week leave of absence from New York wouldn't put the entirety of Stark Industries at risk of falling apart. Steve was further down the jet, sketching something in one of his sketch books while Thor watched with something Clint could only describe as awe on his face. The demi-god had told them before that on Asgard, a talent in art was both rare and honored. The archer couldn't say he was surprised, considering what little he knew of the warrior race. Finally, Natasha was sitting in the seat to his right, immersed in a thick book.

Deciding that their flight needed some half-time entertainment, mostly to try to stave off his own boredom, Clint tossed his paper ball once more in his hand, before lobbing it with ease at the back of Tony's head and watching with a grin as it struck and bounced harmlessly to the ground. Thankfully, however, that was enough to get the billionaire started.

Within seconds, Tony had straightened and turned to face him with a slight scowl, eyes narrowed.

"Was that really necessary, Barton?" he demanded, but the archer just grinned unashamedly.

"Yes." he said matter of factly, ducking easily out of the way when Tony retrieved his little paper projectile and hurled it back at him. His grin widened when it then struck Natasha instead, causing the Russian assassin's eyes to flash with annoyance as she looked up over her book.

Tony's eyes widened comically, before he quickly pointed a finger at Clint.

"He did it."

The archer snorted, but watched as Natasha gave a convincing growl, her eyes returning to her book as she spoke.

"He did start it. But you hit me with it. I'm trying to read, Stark, leave me out of yours and Clint's shenanigans." she told him lightly, and Tony gave a silent sigh of relief, before turning his eyes almost accusingly to Clint.

"Just because you're bored, that doesn't mean it's okay to endanger the lives of the rest of us." the billionaire told him unhappily, ignoring Bruce as the doctor rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I didn't make you throw it back." Clint said defensively, before he brightened slightly. "Didn't you two say you had a surprise for me or something?"

The two scientists had mentioned it the night before, and the archer had been somewhat wary, not knowing if what they considered surprise worthy would be safe to be within a two mile radius of. When Steve had been quick to reassure him, however, the unease had been replaced by curiosity. Not much happened around the tower that he wasn't aware of.

The two shared a quick glance, Bruce shrugging as Tony stood.

"I guess you can have it now." the billionaire said, moving to slip behind the curtain that led to the front of the plane.

"You just can't play with it until we land." Bruce amended quickly, a slight excitement of his own settling into his eyes.

"Yeah, no." Tony agreed as he came back into the main area of the jet. "That would end badly for all parties involved."

Clint's eyes widened slightly as he noticed the sleek, black, cylindrical quiver that the billionaire held by the strap in his hand. It looked similar to his, but with obvious, subtle differences that he quickly picked up on. It was a little longer, a little wider, and made out of a different metal. It was fully stocked with as many arrows as Tony could fit in it, and well more than his old one could hold.

"Trust me, hate it just as much as you do when you run out of arrows." Tony said matter of factly, offering the quiver out to him easily. "Bruce and I were bored. We took the measurements from the old one, and kept the weight discrepancy as low as we could. Holds a little over a hundred arrows, complete with twenty of your more 'special' arrowheads."

Clint stared in shock, slowly slipping off the back of his seat and approaching the object that Tony held out to him.

"It's already hooked up to your bow, which I swear we didn't touch. Romanoff may have warned us that that was a no-no." Tony was smirking now at the expression on the typically stoic archer's face. Bruce too was watching with a small grin from his seat.

"You guys didn't have to do this…" Clint said quietly, his tone almost disbelieving.

"No." Tony agreed lightly, his smirk widening as the archer took the quiver from him carefully. "The thing's not made of glass, Legolas. Far from it; it can take a hell of a beating. Now go on, make sure it sits right. We don't claim to be quiver experts."

Clint snorted and gave a slight shake of his head at the billionaire's words, before returning his focus to what was apparently his new quiver. He weighed the cylindrical object in his hands, noting the slight difference, but agreeing with Tony that it wasn't much, even though it was larger, held a lot more arrows, and double the number of his less traditional arrowheads. As he was doing this, he admired the sleek black metal that made it up, and inspected the mechanisms he could see to load the arrows if he wanted to change out the heads.

Satisfied, he then slung the quiver over his back in one practiced movement, rolling his shoulders as it settled in between his shoulder blades, and the strap crossing his chest in almost the exact same place as his old one had, and it sat just as comfortably. He could feel the added width and length, but it wasn't awkward and he didn't foresee it giving him any problems, especially once he got used to it.

"It's perfect." he said, looking to Tony, and then Bruce. "What's it made out of?"

"Same alloy as my suit." it was Tony that responded easily, taking a small step back with a triumphant grin. "That's how we got away with adding to the size and capacity without changing the weight all that much. Bruce wouldn't let me give it the same paint job, though."

"Thank God." Clint taunted teasingly, but his eyes were still slightly widened with awe as he pulled one of the arrows to inspect it as well, noting that it took a little more force than it usually did. "You made these too?"

"Same exact design and weight as your old ones." Tony nodded, plopping back into his seat. "We also took the liberty of adding in a little something to make sure none of them go flying when you're doing what could technically be called circus stunts over your opponents' heads."

Clint scoffed, but was still grateful for the gesture, deciding that was why he'd needed a bit more pull to free the arrow still in his hand.

"Then Bruce had some fun with some of those special ones." Tony added and Bruce gave a slight roll of his eyes as he stood from his seat and walked over to Clint for himself, messing with something on the quiver for a few moments.

"Fair warning, this is the reason you can't play with it now, but yes, I had some fun." the doctor gave a wry grin as he held out an open palm to the archer, four different arrowheads resting on it. He picked up the most familiar of them and held it out for Clint to take, consisting of a compact bulb over the sharpened point. "Explosive. Not really much different than the ones you had before, other than the fact that Tony fanagled the cocktail to give it a bit more bang for its buck."

Clint took it, rolling it across his palm and feeling almost like a kid on Christmas morning as he pointed out the other more familiar head that Bruce held.

"Grappling?" he questioned, giving a slight frown and an almost doubtful expression to the small, compact claw. Bruce must have seen his expression because he gave a quiet chuckle.

"Yes, and trust me. If it can take Thor's weight, it can take yours just fine." the doctor said, and at that point the demi-god spoke up, the rest of the team having been watching as the two geniuses explained Clint's gift to him.

"Indeed, Hawk, they had me test the device's strength." he confirmed and Clint gave a slight chuckle to that mental image as Bruce continued, moving on to what was definitely the oddest looking of the four.

"And this was where I got a bit… creative." he admitted, holding up what looked to be a three-sided and almost hinged arrowhead. "With these, you're going to want to hit the trigger on your bow a bit before impact. Shoots out a 4' by 4' titanium alloy sticky netting."

Clint watched, impressed, as the doctor pried open one of the side to reveal the condensed netting inside before he let it snap shut again.

"I've seen bullets like this." the archer mused, eyes bright. "Never this small, though."

"Any bigger and it would have offset the entire arrow, making it basically pointless." Bruce pointed out with a shrug. "That one took me a while, trying to get it to where it fired out correctly."

Clint wordlessly shook his head, unable to think of anything to say at that point and time. Instead, he just nodded curiously down to the final arrowhead. It only had a small point to it, and as such would only cause a shallow wound, and certainly not a deadly one, so he was somewhat confused as to its purpose.

"This one delivers a pressure-triggered electrical charge." Bruce explained next. "Enough of one to knock a man unconscious. Designed for non-fatal purposes, but I'm sure that given time you could find a way to change that." the doctor gave another grin at his words, which Clint returned easily, still reeling slightly from all the possibilities that could stem from this gift.

It was easily ten times better than anything he or the SHIELD techs ever could have come up with, but considering the fact that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were directly involved, that wasn't much of a surprise. What was slightly a surprise was the fact that there wasn't even a real _reason_ for them to have spent so much time making this for him.

Shaking out of his thoughts quickly, Clint slipped the quiver off his back and held it out in front of him again so he could watch how Bruce loaded the four arrowheads back into place.

"There's ten explosive, five electrical, three netting and two grappling loaded in there now, but we made extras of everything, so you can change it up to whatever you want." Bruce told him, before pointing out something he hadn't noticed before on one side of the quiver. "And a slot for your bow when you're not using it."

"It's amazing." Clint told them both matter of factly, slowly shaking his head as he looked the entire thing over again with what was probably a stupid grin on his face. "Thank you."

"It's not that big of a deal." Tony waved off the gratitude easily as Bruce returned to his seat as well. Clint just shook his head slightly, his eyes darkening.

"Hardly anyone's ever just given me something like this before." he told them quietly, his eyes pointedly on the quiver instead of anyone else. He didn't say that the only two people to give him a gift for the hell of it with no expectation of anything in return since his parents had died were Natasha and Phil. He didn't actually expect the billionaire to understand anyway.

To his credit, however, it didn't take longer than a few minutes of somewhat awkward silence for Stark to understand the meaning behind his words, unhappy realization washing across his face, followed shortly by carefully masked shock and disbelief. Bruce had already let a frown grace his expression, and Clint was uncomfortably aware of the eyes of everyone on the jet on him.

True, they'd been watching with amused interest from the beginning, but the gazes had changed now, and the entire mood on the jet had darkened. Pepper's in particular was almost wholly one of pity, seeing as she had taken it upon herself to mother all of them.

"It is a gift fit for a warrior." the deep timbre of Thor's voice cut through the silent tension after no more than a few minutes, six pairs of eyes turning to him instead. "I am sure it will be put to good use."

Clint couldn't help a wry grin and a nod to him. Who said the demi-god was oblivious to social climate?

"Thanks." the archer tossed to him as well, before he all but hopped back to his seat, sitting in it normally so he could better examine his new toy.

Natasha, who had set aside her book to watch the exchange, leaned over to get a better look as well, giving his arm a light, understanding squeeze. He gave her a familiar lopsided grin in response, before looking back to the quiver in his lap.

"Clint."

He turned back to look at Bruce when the doctor spoke, eyes curious.

"You're welcome." the doctor continued sincerely, Tony nodding along with his words, still looking somewhat stunned.

Clint smirked, the heaviness over the jet cabin evaporating quickly. He gave them a short nod in return before once again turning to the quiver, itching to grab his bow and try it out, especially now that he could.

* * *

When the plane landed roughly another three hours later, Tony was the first one off and down the ramp, grinning widely.

"Happy, good to see you!" he called brightly to the man waiting beside the black SUV and Tony's favorite Audi convertible.

"You too, boss." the larger man grinned, shaking Tony's hand before nodding to the rest of the Avengers as they loaded off the jet. "You've got some interesting company."

"When am I _not_ interesting?" Tony asked pointedly, and Happy gave a shrug of agreement. The billionaire then tossed a glance over his shoulder, a wide smirk forming on his face. "Pepper and Bruce are riding with me."

At those words, the doctor shared a quick glance with Pepper who gave an exasperated sigh and patted his arm reassuringly.

"Prepare yourself." she told him with a smile as they watched Tony catch the keys Happy tossed him before he all but leaped into the Audi's driver seat.

"Oh, this is going to be fun. I can tell." Bruce deadpanned, before grinning slightly at the responding chuckles that came from Steve, Thor and Clint.

"Come on." Tony said imploringly, watching impatiently as Bruce and Pepper approached the car, the blonde woman setting her bags into the trunk and inviting Bruce to do the same.

The doctor then climbed carefully into the backseat, before Pepper slid into the passenger seat, Tony grinning widely the entire time. As soon as they were both settled, the billionaire slammed onto the gas with an excited whoop, the car shooting smoothly towards the road beyond the air strip. Bruce tightly gripped the side of the car and gave a slow, exasperated shake of his head. They were practically flying down mostly deserted, winding roads at speeds that certainly weren't legal anywhere inside the boundaries of the U.S.

On the other hand, Pepper looked almost used to it, staring out at the scenery as it flashed by around them.

After a few minutes of maniacal driving, Tony looked back to Bruce and gave him a cocky smirk, eyes bright and happy.

The doctor couldn't help but laugh at that sight. "Eyes on the road, you lunatic." he shouted, though he doubted Tony would hear him anyway, due to the sheer force of the wind.

Something from his comment must have gotten across, though, because Tony rolled his eyes at him and stuck out his tongue before turning back around.

When they finally slowed- or more screeched to a halt- in a driveway, Bruce couldn't help but stare at the mansion they'd stopped in front of. Like everything else of Tony Stark's, it seemed to be the very definition of modern, the huge white and glass house going right up to the cliff edge.

"What d'ya think?" Tony asked, grin still plastered on his face as he twisted around to look at Bruce after parking the car only feet from the door, Pepper stepping out with a small, knowing smile on her face.

"I think it's huge." Bruce said matter of factly, giving the other man his own smirk. "And very breakable."

"Well, you wouldn't be the first one to break it." Tony quipped easily, jumping out of his seat and moving around to the truck, grabbing Pepper's bags for her, seeing as he hadn't bothered with his own. He was going to his own house. He had stuff there too, so why bother with a suitcase? "Me and Rhodey have that accomplishment, and you and the Big Guy can't have it."

Bruce huffed out a laugh at that, shaking his head once again as he climbed out and grabbed his bag from the trunk before closing it. His friend's nonchalant attitude toward the Other Guy still occasionally managed to throw him for a loop, and this was one such time. It was just so _different_ from how everyone else tiptoed around him. Of course, that statement was excluding the rest of his team as well, but even they didn't run around poking him with pointy things and then staring at him intently for twenty seconds looking for any sort of reaction.

Clint seemed to be starting to get to that point of careless indifference, though, just without the pointy objects.

"Thank you, Tony." Pepper said with almost teasing surprise, which shook Bruce out of his thoughts in time to see Tony shrug.

"I _can_ occasionally be chivalrous." he said modestly, waiting until Bruce stepped away from the car before he spoke again. "JARVIS, go ahead and drive the Audi into the garage, and let's try to keep it off the walls this time, okay?"

As Bruce watched, an expression that was mildly impressed on his face, the car started itself and began slowly moving towards a tunnel entrance.

"It's a work in progress." Tony sighed as way of explanation, but before Bruce could comment, the SUV containing the rest of the team pulled up and stopped just behind them, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Thor and Happy piling out and staring up at the mansion with varying expressions.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that before you built a tower to the sky with your name on it, that this was your house." Steve said dryly as he walked up to stand with Tony, Bruce and Pepper.

"Come on, Cap. Obviously when Stark says 'house', you're automatically supposed to think 'mansion the size of a SHIELD base'." Clint told him matter of factly, one eyebrow raised as he looked over the outside of the house he could see.

"I didn't know I was going to be surrounded by a group of aspiring comedians." Tony said dryly, one eyebrow arching as he looked over to Steve and Clint, who were both grinning unashamedly. The billionaire then proceeded to lead them inside, using a passcode instead of a key to get in, JARVIS' voice sounding as soon as they stepped over the threshold.

'_Welcome home, Mr. Stark. Should I create passcodes for the rest of the team?' _the AI's voice was no different here than it was in New York, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Yeah, JARVIS, get on that." Tony instructed as he dropped Pepper's bags by the door, and motioned for everyone else to do the same before he responded to the confused expressions he was receiving. "All the doors here are passcoded. Used to be a lot of people around I didn't want snooping for parties and such. Don't worry, I won't intentionally lock you out of anywhere important like the bathrooms or anything…"

Pepper lightly smacked his arm in response, her expression disapproving.

"Play nicely." she scolded, with a knowing glare at Tony before she moved to leave the group. "I'm going to go see what we have in the kitchen."

"I'll help you." Natasha offered, quickly moving to follow her and tossing her own glare at Tony when he opened his mouth to protest. "I know my way around, Stark."

The billionaire huffed, looking vaguely insulted, while Clint just chuckled, his eyes sparking with amusement.

Tony then proceeded to show them around the entire mansion, starting with the main living area, before he moved on to the kitchen, dining room, TV and entertainment room, long balcony overlooking the sea and cliffs, huge infinity pool, and finally the training gym. It was smaller than the one they had in the tower, but when he had first starting entertaining the idea of taking this vacation, he had made sure there was a fully stocked storage closet of heavy-duty punching bags, and had seen to it that another firing range identical to the one in the tower had been put in, as well as a set of metal rafter beams. He was really getting tired of the looks Pepper was getting sent when she assured the contractors that _yes_ she wanted rafters put in. Was that honestly such a strange request these days?

At any rate, they practically had to drag Barton out, with the promise from Steve that he could return as soon as he got settled in, seeing as JARVIS had finished creating the passcodes for everyone. Tony already knew that after his month of doing nothing, Barton's 'settling in' would consist of dropping his bag in a room.

Grinning with the thought, the billionaire led them to a hallway lined with rooms they could pick from. That taken care of, he wandered off to his own room, looking to change into some more casual clothes so he wouldn't have to worry about Pepper harping on him for getting grease or something on something that wasn't a t-shirt again.

Bruce barely had time to get into his new room and set down his bag before Tony was back, practically bouncing with excitement. Without explanation or preamble, he then proceeded to practically drag the doctor out of the room and to a set of down-ward leading stairs.

"Alright, Tony, I'm coming." he said, rolling his eyes at the other man's antics and pulling his arm out of his grip. "It's not like you need to drag me."

"But that takes all the fun out of it." Tony pouted, practically leaping off the stairs and punching in his passcode at the glass doors to his garage/lab area, Bruce leaning around him to get a better look.

"This is mainly where I do the work on the suit and the cars." Tony explained, walking in with Bruce on his heels, the doctor looking around with slightly widened eyes as he took in everything around him. "The particle accelerator used to be in here too, until I decided I should probably give it better supports than amassed piles of books and junk, so I gave it its own little room."

"Tony, only you would build a particle accelerator in your garage supported on books and junk." Bruce said in a dry, matter of fact tone that wasn't at all surprised.

"Hey, I was desperate, alright? I was _dying_. Give a guy a break." Tony said defensively, though there was a wide smile on his face. "Want to see it?"

Bruce laughed to mask his amazement, but allowed his excitement to show as he followed Tony across to a small door. After all, it wasn't like everyone had access to their own personal particle accelerator.

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**And there we have the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, and please feel free to shoot me a review if you have any questions, concerns, general feedback, world domination plots ect. I accept them all. Next chapter should be up in a few days.  
~Dogstar**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back everyone. I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who has already reviewed, favorited or alerted this story. I'm pretty sure I responded to all the reviews that I could, but if I missed you, please let me know.**

**The wait was a little longer than I expected, but then again so is the chapter so... Anyway, I'm still not entirely certain how I feel about this chapter, seeing as I had writers block in the middle of it so it might be a little bumpy here and there.**

**So, I hope you enjoy, and please don't be afraid to let me know what you think.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

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_**Edit 1/14/12: Just fixed my mistake with Rhodey's rank.**_

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They'd only been working in the lab for a little more than a half an hour when JARVIS' voice cut through the AC/DC album Tony had playing, which made the billionaire look up with a scowl from where he and Bruce were tinkering with some wiring on the back of the suit.

'_Sir, Colonel Rhodes is requesting entrance at the front door. Should I allow him inside?'_ the AI questioned, and Tony instantly relaxed, the scowl falling from his face and forming a wide grin instead, which Bruce noticed and caused him to give a small smile of his own.

Listening to Tony talk, he probably knew more about the Air Force Colonel than the man himself. He knew all about what shenanigans they'd gotten into from MIT onward, and knowing that Tony had had at least one close friend besides Pepper before the team had come along was somewhat of a relief.

"Yeah, JARVIS, just tell him to wait by the door. I'll be right up." Tony said quickly, wiping his hands off on a rag before turning to Bruce. "I'll only be gone a few minutes. Don't make any startling, earth-shattering discoveries without me."

Bruce gave a mock salute and a quiet chuckle.

"I'm just going to keep rewiring the cooling system. No worries there." he said dryly and Tony winked at him before starting up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He'd be lying if he said he wouldn't be glad to see his friend again. And now, Rhodey could meet the rest of the team, like he'd been pestering him about for months.

"Rhodey!" he greeted excitedly as he stepped into the main room and saw his friend waiting by the door, wearing his 'civilian' clothes as opposed to his Air Force uniform.

"Hey, Tony." the other man looked up with a grin that mirrored Stark's. "Thought I'd swing by and say 'hi'."

The two quickly shook hands before pulling each other into a quick, brotherly embrace.

"How'd you even know I was back in town?" Tony questioned after they'd stepped back, his tone curious, but Rhodey just leveled him with a disbelieving look.

"Come on, man. I know when your jet comes in." the Colonel said as if it should have been obvious and Tony stared at him for a few moments before he gave a blink and responded.

"Stalker." Tony said simply before continuing with a smirk. "Anyway, it's been a while. I haven't seen you since what? Before the 'evil aliens take over New York' thing?"

"Yeah." Rhodey snorted with a slow shake of his head. "Someone's been keeping their stubborn ass on the other coast."

"Hey, can you blame me for being busy with a combination of my new merry band of misfits and, you know, saving the world and all?" Tony demanded defensively.

"Right. So you've still got everyone living in the tower then? No one's killed anyone?" Rhodey asked with a smirk, but Tony just rolled his eyes.

"Nah. Thankfully, we seem to have gotten past that stage. We don't toss out death threats that much anymore. They're all here, you know. We decided we'd earned a vacation."

Interest sparked in the Colonel's eyes at those words, but before he could comment Pepper and Natasha walked up to them.

"Oh, Rhodey, it's good to see you!" Pepper said brightly, stepping forward to give him a warm hug of her own. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Pepper, you?" he asked, returning the embrace easily.

"Good." she confirmed before looking to Tony. "Natasha and I are going to run to the store. Any requests?"

"Just please don't forget pop tarts. Large amounts. Just buy them in bulk." Tony gave a slight wince, as Rhodey gave a slight frown, looking to Natasha.

"I thought your name was Natalie." he said in confusion, and she gave a small, coy smile and Tony laughed.

"Natasha Romanoff." she corrected easily. "I was undercover as Stark's assistant."

"Aka Black Widow; aka really scary master assassin." Tony added for his friend's benefit, whose eyebrows just rose comically. Natasha's smile just widened slightly before she followed a clearly amused Pepper towards the door.

"Watch yourself, Stark, I haven't forgotten about earlier." she reminded over her shoulder, causing Tony to pale slightly as Rhodey spoke once the two women were out of earshot.

"She's an assassin." he said faintly, his tone almost questioning. "On your team of super heroes."

"Yep. Trust me, I was shocked too." Tony agreed simply, clapping him on the shoulder before steering him towards the gym. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the others."

He led his friend into the gym, grinning when he saw the sight that met them. Steve and Thor were sitting on the edges of the boxing ring, the Captain in the process of picking up a 50 lb. weight with surprising ease.

"You sure you want to go to 50?" he asked of seemingly no one in particular, seeing as Thor was sitting back, relaxed. He waited a few moments, casting a glance up before he sighed. "Alright, here goes."

Tony snuck a glance to Rhodey as Steve tossed the circular weight into the air like it was nothing, stifling a laugh with difficulty when he saw the unmasked shock. The Colonel's eyes had widened comically again, and he jumped visibly when not more than ten seconds later an arrow whizzed towards the air-born metal.

The arrowhead clicked open mere moments before it would have struck, instead expelling a thin, silver netting that wrapped effortlessly around the weight which then shifted course somewhat to mirror the arrow's flight path as it fell to the ground.

A triumphant laugh came from above them and both Tony and Rhodey looked up to see a man crouched in the rafters not far away, bow held in hand.

"Didn't take you too long to figure those out." the billionaire remarked easily, a hint of amusement in his voice as he looked over, nodding once to himself when he saw a target standing in the range, one arrow sticking out of the center while a perfect circle of ten others surrounded it. He wasn't surprised by the sight, but relieved somehow, not that he would ever admit it.

"Did you think it would?" Clint asked rhetorically as he swung around effortlessly to face them, an almost invisible tension entering his shoulders when he saw Rhodey. "Who's your friend?"

"Get your ass down here, Legolas, and I'll introduce you." Tony said matter of factly, looking over and smirking when Steve and Thor stood and approached as well, curious.

"You did say you made more of those netting ones, right?" Clint asked as he dropped into a graceful crouch only a few feet in front of them, sliding his bowstring over his shoulder to rest with his quiver.

"Yep, I'll get you the boxes later." Tony said, waving a hand dismissively before he put a hand on Rhodey's shoulder and continued. "This' my friend Colonel James Rhodes. Call him Rhodey."

"Steve Rogers." unsurprisingly, it was Steve that was first to offer his hand with a smile before he tilted his head slightly to the side in curiosity. "Colonel?"

"Air Force." Rhodey said quickly, returning the smile and shaking his hand easily. "It's an honor to meet you, Captain."

"Steve's fine." the super soldier said as he stepped back. Before Rhodes could comment, Tony turned him to face Clint.

"Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton." the billionaire supplied helpfully, which just made the archer roll his eyes. "Assassin, and pretty much the best damn marksman in the world. With the lack of modesty to prove it, and a penchant for outdated weapons such as the bow and arrow." he then smirked at the glare that Clint sent him.

The archer than offered his hand to Rhodes as well, looking away from Stark to give the other man a false cheery smile.

"Your friend's an asshole." he said lightly as the Colonel shook his hand, which just caused Rhodey to laugh.

"You have to put up with him more than I do." he reminded, and Clint let the grin change to a scowl, as Tony's expression became insulted.

"He was yours first." the archer muttered mutinously, though his bright eyes made it clear that he was joking.

Rhodey laughed again, but turned at Tony's insistence to face the largest and most intimidating man in the room.

"Thor Odinson." the billionaire said as explaination. "God of Thunder, Prince of Asgard, wields a magic hammer." Tony smiled then, before stepping back, just in time for Thor to smile brightly and step forward, wrapping his arms around the Colonel and pounding him in a friendly fashion on the back.

"It is an honor to meet you, Friend Rhodey." the demi-god boomed happily as he took a step back from the shocked man.

"That's just how he greets people he likes." Clint supplied helpfully from where he stood behind the Colonel. "It's an Asgardian thing."

"So you are a warrior in the Midgardian military?" Thor questioned, and Rhodey gave a slow, almost hesitant nod.

"Kinda. I think." he said, which just caused Tony to cackle in amusement. "I'm the weapons' expert."

"So that's how you know Tony." Steve surmised and Rhodey nodded, before Tony commented as well.

"Yeah, and we went to MIT together too. I've known Rhodey forever." he sounded proud of that fact, which no one missed.

Without skipping a beat, Clint turned to the man with a completely straight face and spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"Ha ha, Barton." Tony deadpanned, now with his own slight glare. He then grabbed Rhodey's arm and started pulling him out. "Come on, you can chitchat later."

"Stark, when you're done, why don't we see if you've forgotten anything over the last month." Clint called after them, and Tony scoffed as he responded over his shoulder.

"Please, Featherhead, you're the one out of practice." he said tauntingly, responding to his friend's confused expression with a smirk once they'd left the gym. "Barton's been training me in hand-to-hand so I don't get my ass handed to me without my suit."

Rhodey have a surprised blink, easily walking at the billionaire's side as he led the way towards the stairs to the garage.

"Now that's not the typical 'nothing can touch me' Tony Stark attitude I remember." he said lightly, and Tony gave a shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets as his eyes darkened.

"Yeah, well, terrorists aren't exactly a confidence booster." he said in a forced casual tone, and Rhodes instantly stiffened, catching Tony's shoulder and turning his to face him, eyes widened in concern and a touch of anger.

"Tony, what happened?" he demanded, and Stark sighed.

"It was a couple months ago. I'm fine now; it was only like four days." he hedged, but at that the other man's eyes just narrowed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked almost accusingly, but Tony just pulled his shoulder out of his grip and shook his head.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't want to worry you over nothing." he said, his tone holding a touch of finality. "It wasn't like last time. They didn't want me to build anything for them. I'm fine, Rhodey, I swear."

"You still should have called me." the Colonel chastised gently with his own sigh, not all the concern leaving his gaze, though he did relax slightly.

Tony offered him an uncharacteristically reassuring grin before starting towards the stairs again.

"You actually let someone down here unsupervised?" Rhodey changed the subject, his tone now almost teasing as he followed the billionaire.

"Yep." Tony chuckled, eyes sparking slightly. "Sure did."

More curious than ever, Rhodes followed quickly down into the garage/lab area. Once they'd gone inside, he could see the left side of a man crouched behind one of the Iron Man suits. He gave a blink of surprise at that, knowing firsthand how protective Tony was over his things.

"Brucey!" Tony called out in a sing-song voice, jumping up to sit on a mostly clear lab bench where he could face both Bruce and Rhodey at the same time.

"No, Tony, I have not been able to solve the problem in ten minutes." the man said, an edge of patient amusement to his voice that the Colonel was all too familiar with.

"I know _that_. I want you to meet someone." the billionaire protested, grinning at the man behind the suit as he gave a slight sigh and stood, moving around the machine and wiping his hands on his pants easily. He then fixed his glasses before obediently turning where Tony indicated to face the Colonel, who had stopped only about a foot away from where the billionaire had taken his seat. "Rhodey, this' Dr. Bruce Banner."

Rhodes felt himself instantly stiffen as he met Banner's light brown gaze. He had friends in the Army, he knew about the destructive, deadly force of the monster called the Hulk. He'd always knew the name behind it, but never the face. Now, apparently, that had changed.

He was understandably wary and cautious, and a part of him couldn't believe that Tony had left this man unsupervised anywhere.

"Tony's told me a lot about you." Banner said kindly, his hands unmoving from their unthreatening positions at his sides, and Rhodes certainly didn't offer his own. Tony wandered off at that point, leaving a tense silence between Colonel and doctor, who continued knowingly after only a few moments. "You can relax, you know. The Other Guy's not making an appearance anytime soon. You've got nothing to worry about from me."

"Right." Rhodey said, though he wasn't at all convinced. At any rate, he wasn't exactly sure what would set the man off, so he wasn't going to chance much.

"He doesn't shut up." Bruce pointed out dryly, giving a small sigh. Rhodes' expression was one he easily recognized. And he had no idea why it disappointed him as much as it did. "So yes, you've been mentioned a few times."

Tony walked casually up behind Bruce then, but the doctor wasn't expecting the sharp poke and tingle of electricity in his side.

"Ow. Tony!" he hissed, turning to glare at the billionaire as his hand went to his side, only to find the other man's eyes once again staring at him intently. He gave a scowl and a huff of aggravation, lightly pushing Tony back and unsurprised to see Rhodes had all but appeared at the billionaire's side almost protectively in the next moment, eyes widened.

"What the hell, Tony?" the Colonel demanded, eyes not leaving Banner's form, almost waiting for the huge, green monster to spring forward. When it didn't, the doctor just irately rubbing his side and snatching the small metal rod out of Tony's hands, he turned to his friend with narrowed eyes.

"What?" the billionaire asked defensively, rolling his eyes and giving an easy grin.

"Don't worry, I'm well used to Tony and his pointy things." Banner said crossly, though there wasn't as much aggravation in his eyes as there had been before, having been replaced with amused exasperation.

"One of these days, Banner." Tony smirked, eyes bright, but Bruce just shook his head.

"No, Tony, I really don't think so." he said dryly, and Tony snorted.

"Come on, the Big Guy likes me." he protested, and Bruce just gave the man a level look as he responded.

"He's aggravated at you. I'm pretty sure at this point he'd put you through a wall based on that principle alone."

It was easy to lapse into his typical, teasing banter with Tony, and completely forget that Rhodes was even in the room. But at the same time, he knew the man had been Tony's best friend for a long time. He wasn't going to be the one to get between that.

The billionaire scoffed at his words, ignoring Rhodey's shocked and wary expression.

"Please. Anyway, Barton says we're going to do some training, and I think I might actually have a chance of winning one this time around, seeing as he's been out of things for like a month. Want to come up and watch?" Tony asked, and Bruce gave a good natured roll of his eyes, but shook his head.

"I think you're still going to end up disappointed in that respect, Tony. And I'll be up in a few minutes, I've just got something I want to finish up really quick." Bruce said easily, not surprised that Tony didn't pick up on his friend's discomfort and wariness.

"Don't make me have Dummy fire-extinguish you up the stairs." Tony warned, and Bruce laughed.

He'd met Dummy and Butterfingers, and once again couldn't help his lack of surprise that the closest things Tony Stark had to pets were a couple of robots.

"Alright, alright." he said appeasingly, turning back to the suit as the other two men left the lab area, heading back for the stairs.

Rhodey waited until they'd gotten up the stairs before he took a quick step forward, turning Tony by the shoulder again to face him.

"Do you have a death wish?" he demanded angrily, and the billionaire blinked at him in surprise but responded quickly.

"Not that I'm aware of, but it's been questioned before." he said flippantly, his expression changing to one of slight confusion. Rhodey just scowled at his response, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I get that a giant, green rage monster can be helpful in fighting aliens, but poking him in the side like that? Keeping him here? Someone's got to have a place a bit _stronger_ that you could keep him." he growled in hushed tones, and clearly displeased by his friend's apparent act of recklessness. He was surprised, however, when Tony stiffened and he adopted a defensive tone.

"I'm not _keeping_ him anywhere." the billionaire said, almost disbelieving. "Bruce can go where he wants. I'm not his warden, I don't tell him what to do."

"Someone should be." Rhodey said shortly, his eyes narrowing as well. He didn't understand how Tony could be so lax about his and everyone else's safety. This seemed past the point where even _he_ would draw the line. "That thing is dangerous, Tony. Why…"

He trailed off when Tony took a step back from him, eyes narrowed and expression hardened.

Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure, he knew Rhodey could be hardheaded at times; ignorant of the gray areas between black and white… But to call Bruce a 'thing'? He tried to keep in mind that all Rhodey knew about the doctor would be what he had heard from his Army buddies, but especially so soon after the whole fiasco with Ross, he was a little protective. And as such, he couldn't keep the venom out of his voice as he spoke.

"That _thing_ is a human being." he spat, clearly surprising the other man with the strength of his anger. He continued anyway. "That human being has a name. And Bruce is my friend."

"And you trust him with Pepper?" Rhodey prompted, knowing that he was pushing but needing to make sure that Tony had thought this all through, and currently he was a little doubtful.

"Of course." Tony said sharply, huffing out a disbelieving chuckle. "I trust him _and_ the Big Guy with my life. We all do."

"Tony, that's borderline insane." the Colonel warned, but Tony just turned his burning, defiant gaze to meet his.

"Really? Please enlighten me, who has been living with him for months, just how much you know about Bruce Banner other than what you've heard second-hand from your Army buddies." the billionaire challenged, eyes flashing. "He is _not_ a monster. And he doesn't deserve to be locked up and treated like one."

With that, Tony turned sharply and continued towards the gym, not sparing another glance back.

Rhodes stared after him in shock, beginning to get the feeling that he had just seriously messed up. Because Tony Stark did not get that angry, or that protective, over just anyone. Sighing, he followed the man into the gym, walking in just in time to see him slip under the ropes and into the boxing ring with a smirk on his face as he moved to face Barton.

Tony, on the other hand, was aware of Rhodey following him, but didn't expect anything less. The man knew him, and the reaction he just gave would make him stop and think. Then, maybe, once Tony had calmed down somewhat, he'd sit Rhodey down with Bruce and have a chat.

At the moment, however, he needed to focus more on the smirking assassin that was standing across from him. Over the months since they'd started training, Tony had gotten much better at hand-to-hand fighting that he had been previously. No, he wasn't _quite_ as fast as Clint was, and he wasn't flipping around like a Mexican jumping bean on steroids, but he could hold his own. The archer had also been teaching him quite a few offensive moves as well, which would definitely be put into use today.

"I really do think today's going to be the day for my revenge for all those times you've slammed me into the ground, Featherhead." Tony said lightly, but Clint just rolled his eyes.

"Tony, you all as a collective force may have benched me for the past month, but you forget that you haven't really been doing much in that time either." Barton reminded easily, before giving a decidedly more predatory smirk and leaping into action.

The billionaire didn't think he would ever become more comfortable with seeing the assassin come at him like that.

Their sparring match lasted for a good half hour, ducking, spinning and throwing careful attacks. They both landed their fair share of hits, and despite the fact that Tony _knew_ that Clint still didn't spar with him at the same level as he did with Natasha, Steve and Thor, he couldn't help feeling a little smug with that fact.

The smug feeling was gone, however, when Clint managed a spinning kick to his side, which knocked him to the side and of balance enough that the archer was then able to get him onto a solid, inescapable headlock with a knee in his back.

"I'm sorry, Stark, what were you saying?" Clint questioned lightly, and the billionaire just growled angrily, tapping his fingers irately on the mat as everyone else in the room laughed. He did perk up somewhat when he picked out Bruce's voice among them.

"If you don't let me up soon, Barton, I'm going to think there's something else you want out of this situation. And you, my friend, are going to be the one explaining this to Romanoff." Tony said crossly, smirking when Clint gave his own unhappy growl under his breath before getting off of the billionaire probably a bit more heavily handed than he could have.

The others were still chuckling when Tony pulled himself to his feet and he cut Clint a sharp glare before he looked over to Rhodey, who was laughing the hardest.

"You think it's so funny, Mr. Air Force? You get up here and fight with him." he said shortly, though his anger from before was more or less on the back burner.

"I'm sure Clint is done sparring for now." Rhodey protested, but Clint just laughed as Tony slid out of the ring, giving the Colonel a slight push towards the ropes.

"Are you kidding me? I've been benched for a month. Please give me something to do." the archer said, tilting his head slightly to Rhodes as Tony took a seat beside Bruce.

"What'd they bench you for?" Rhodey asked as he stood, slipped off his jacket and ducked into the ring between the ropes.

"Some broke ribs." Clint shrugged it off as he considered the Colonel.

Rhodey nodded in acceptance before they both focused. Clint knew that the older man had the advantage in size, most people did against him, but Rhodes wouldn't be prepared for his speed, seeing as against Tony he didn't use all of his tricks. He wasn't surprised when the Colonel threw the first punch easily.

It was clear that the Air Force trained it's soldiers well, Rhodes' blows quick, calculated and precise. Of course no more than a small handful of them actually landed, and none were more than glancing hits. After a few minutes, he let one of the punches clip his shoulder before he spun and caught the wrist that was now in his reach. He then used his other hand to wrap around the man's elbow before he spun again and backed towards the man and crouched, forcing him forward. He then jerked his hand that was holding Rhodes' elbow back, flipping him over and onto his back on the mat. The whole move only took a few seconds, and Rhodes effectively had the air knocked out of him.

"Assassin, right." the Colonel gasped out and they all laughed as he coughed and rolled over.

"I lasted longer than you did, Platypus, so there." Tony said arrogantly as Clint offered a hand down to Rhodey to help him up.

"You aren't half bad." the archer told him as he returned to his feet.

"Thanks." Rhodey nodded as they both stepped out of the ring.

* * *

Bruce was sure to stay as far away from Rhodes as possible for the rest of the time that the man was at the tower with them. It was clear that he was still uneasy, casting uncertain glances at him whenever he thought that he wasn't looking. Of course the doctor saw them anyway and did his best not to cause his to become any more wary, which was almost difficult seeing as Tony kept close to him the entire time.

Rhodes joined them for the dinner of Chinese take-out that Pepper and Natasha brought back from their grocery shopping trip before he left, leaving the Avengers and Pepper alone in the mansion.

"You know, Rhodey's not afraid of you." Tony said matter of factly once they'd returned to the lab after dinner, and Bruce looked over to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Tony, I think you need to work on your ability to read people." the doctor said, his tone almost saddened, and Tony snorted before moving over to stand in front of him.

"Wary, yes. Cautious, yes. But he's always been a bit hazy with the whole 'gray area' thing. And then there's the fact that all he knows about you is what he's heard from his Army buddies. And let's face it, they aren't exactly your best friends." Tony pointed out easily, meeting the doctor's gaze seriously.

"Yes, I got that memo." Bruce said dryly.

"Just give him some time to come around. I know him. And we've talked, alright?" Tony said, and Bruce frowned.

"Tony, you don't need to cause conflict with your friend over me." he protested, but the billionaire just rolled his eyes, grabbing a wrench and flipping it casually in his hand.

"Bruce, you _are_ my friend. Just as much as Rhodey is. And as such, I staunchly refuse to exhaust myself going back and forth between the two of you." he said lightly and Bruce chuckled and shook his head, catching the wrench as Tony tossed it to him easily. "Oh, and by the way, Barton's already mastered those devious little netting contraptions you gave him. I think he wants the boxes."

"That didn't take him long." Bruce said, looking slightly impressed as he turned to the back of the suit again, and Tony gave another snort.

"This _is_ Barton we're talking about. We could probably give him a fully disassembled weapon that he'd never seen before and he'd be shooting bulls-eyes with it before the hour was up." he said simply, not a trace of doubt in his voice.

An hour or two later, Bruce extracted himself from the lab to go up to Clint's room, carrying with him the boxes of the archer's new arrowheads. He'd wanted a little break from the cooling system, and it was best to do this while Tony was enthralled with his own project and wouldn't be surfacing anytime soon.

He knocked on the archer's door twice, unsurprised when it clicked open less than thirty seconds later, Clint's curious form appearing.

"Hey doc, what's up?" the archer asked, stepping back to give him room to enter, which he did with a nod of thanks.

"Just wanted to make sure you got these." Bruce held out four wooden boxes only slightly smaller than shoe boxes, which Clint took with bright, excited eyes.

"Thanks." he nodded, sitting them on his dresser beside where the new quiver had taken up residence. "Really, Bruce, you and Tony did an amazing job with that. It's better than anything I could have asked for."

"Well then I'm glad you didn't ask." Bruce grinned, before he watched as Clint's head tilted to the side slightly as he noticed the remaining, smaller box that the doctor still held.

"What's that?" he asked, bouncing down into a cross-legged position on his bed near the edge where Bruce was still standing.

"This is what I wanted to talk to you about." Bruce said as a slight sigh, sitting beside the archer and holding out the box to him.

Clint took it with a slight frown, not at all liking the resigned expression the doctor was giving him. Instead of asking, he flipped open the lid, his frown deepening into confusion when he saw a dozen unfamiliar arrowheads. They weren't any of the ones he'd been shown earlier, and he looked up to Bruce expectantly, noting that the doctor was now wringing his hands as if nervous.

"Those are basically modified tranquilizer darts." he started his explanation quickly before Clint could protest. "Each loaded with a concentrated dose strong enough to knock out the Other Guy."

"Bruce," Clint started, his tone almost warning as he flipped the box shut and set it aside, his gaze hardened. The doctor just held up a hand to stop him, unable to meet his gaze.

"I know what you think, Clint and I know what you've told me. But if that catastrophe with Ross and Simmons taught me anything, it was that the Other Guy is more unpredictable than I thought, whether it be in a good or bad way. I don't want to wait for a bad example to happen to have a way to deal with it." he said firmly, but Clint just scowled so he continued. "All it takes is one misunderstanding; one thing he thinks is a threat that isn't, and innocent people could die. I'm not saying it would be on purpose, but an _accident_ could produce the same results and destruction, and I don't want innocent blood on my hands again. I'm trusting you with those, Clint."

Clint sighed and ran a hand down his face, understanding exactly what the doctor was telling him. He was trusting him with those arrowheads, and the drug they carried, which in the wrong hands could land him in another situation like what Ross had subjected him to, or in a cage somewhere. How could he argue with an admission like that?

"Why me?" he asked, honestly curious, and Bruce actually gave a small smile.

"Because you and Tony are the ones that have the highest possibility of being in a position to use it. And Tony would tell me no until we were both blue in the face from arguing. At least you I can reason with." the doctor said dryly. "Plus, I know you'll make the right call quickly."

"So basically, I have more experience in knowing when to take someone out." Clint said tonelessly, and Bruce sighed.

"If that's how you want to look at it." he said wearily, and Clint huffed an unamused chuckle and shook his head.

"What will it do?" he asked next, his tone still not exhibiting any discernible emotion.

"Knock me out for an hour, maybe two at the most, that's it." Bruce told him matter of factly with a slight nod to himself.

"And how'd you come up with this?"

"I got a blood sample before the drugs Ross gave me burned completely out of my system." the doctor answered truthfully, but that just made Clint stiffen and narrow his eyes.

"Those drugs hurt you, Bruce." he said as almost a growl, but the older man just shook his head.

"I tweaked it, I swear. Here." he produced a tablet and offered it to the archer, two separate chemical compositions showing on the screen. He then shrugged to his shrewd glance. "I knew you were going to need convincing."

The archer sighed and took the tablet, looking them both over intently for a few moments. He could see the differences easily, and from the basics of chemistry he knew, he could guess that what Bruce was saying was true. Not that he expected the doctor to lie to him.

"I'm still not saying that I think we're going to need it." Clint said stubbornly, and Bruce sighed, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses.

"Clint, I'm not asking you to make an all or nothing decision about the Other Guy. I'm asking you to just carry one in your quiver in case of some freak accident that sets him off. I'm asking you to do this for me as my friend for my peace of mind." Bruce said sincerely and Clint gave his own huff of aggravation but picked up the box again.

"This is, like literally, plan Z." he said firmly, and Bruce chuckled but gave a nod of acceptance.

"Thank you." he said, sounding relieved, but Clint just snorted.

"Do not thank me for potentially having to drug you." he said shortly, before he continued with a question. "Do you want to tell the others or keep this between us?"

"I'll tell Tony when I go back downstairs, and we can tell Steve, Natasha and Thor tomorrow." Bruce said, wincing slightly at the thought of telling Tony. "He'll probably come try to talk you out of it."

"I can handle Tony." Clint snorted, taking the box and moving to sit it with the others.

Like expected, within fifteen minutes, his door was opening unannounced and Tony was walking in, his face expressionless. Clint had perched himself precariously on the thin granite sill that ran along the window that went almost the entire length of the wall.

"You honestly agreed to that?" the billionaire asked stiffly, and Clint snorted but didn't turn around.

"If he asked you to; trusted you with something like that... And it came down to using it or making him live with more guilt and innocent lives on his conscious, wouldn't you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Well when you put it that way…" Tony muttered unhappily after a few moments, moving to stand at the window as well, still not looking at all pleased.

"That's the way I've got to think about it." Clint said matter of factly, eyes still turned to the darkened window. "I don't like it any better than you do, Tony."

* * *

**And there we have it. Don't worry, it gets a little lighter next chapter, not as depressing. I hope you liked it and let me know what you think. Next chapter should be up soon.  
~Dogstar**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all, and sorry this took so long to get out to you. That pesky little thing called 'life' again. Anyway, the next chapter shouldn't take as long, seeing as I already have it partly written. Again, I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed, favorited and alerted the story. I love seeing each notification.**

**Right, remember when I said this chapter wouldn't be so depressing? Completely disregard that for the last part of the chapter. Sorry.**

**And also, there will be some more action coming up next chapter.**

**Please enjoy this chapter.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

The next morning when Pepper woke, she stretched slightly and frowned when she didn't feel Tony's warmth behind her. It wasn't that unusual for Tony to simply not come to bed on any given night, often staying up and working in the lab, sometimes with Bruce, though lately the doctor had been trying to get the billionaire back to a somewhat normal sleeping pattern, which she was grateful for.

"JARVIS, did Tony come to bed last night?" she asked sleepily, rolling over and watching as the windows lightened, giving her an admittedly beautiful view of the cliffs and ocean beyond the mansion.

'_He did indeed, Ms. Potts.'_ the AI informed her pleasantly. _'And good morning. Are you interested in the day's weather report?'_

"Not right now." she said as she sat up, expression now slightly bemused. So not only had Tony come to bed last night, but he had gotten up before her. She was almost worried, but she knew JARVIS would have told her if the team had been called out.

She was just starting to get out of bed when the door to the room opened, revealing a smiling Tony who was carrying a delicious smelling tray.

"No, stay." he told her firmly, his grin widening when her expression changed to one of shock. "Breakfast, Ms. Potts?"

"You made me breakfast?" she asked, torn between being happily surprised and slightly wary of whatever Tony had cooked. Even so, she moved to sit back against her pillows, taking the tray he offered her before he plopped down in front of her. The tray held a mug of coffee, toast and omelet, and she was very impressed.

"I manned the toast." Tony said modestly, his eyes brightening with amusement. "Then I talked Clint into the omelet, because we both remember how well it turned out the last time _I_ tried to cook. But hey, I am the one that asked him to, so…"

She laughed quietly, picking up her mug and taking a sip of the coffee.

"Thank you, Tony." she said with a warm smile.

"So what do you want to do today?" Tony asked after a few moments, moving to sit beside her instead and nearly spilling the coffee in the process. "Whatever you want, me and you."

"Tony, what did you do?" Pepper asked shrewdly, looking to him with narrowed, questioning eyes. He just gave a mock gasp and feigned a hurt expression.

"Just because I do something nice, you automatically assume I did something?" he asked, though he was grinning unashamedly. She just gave him a level look, which had him backtracking. "Alright, so you may have legitimate experience to come to that conclusion. But I didn't do anything, I swear. It's just been forever since we've just done something me and you. You finally took some time off, and we can ditch the merry band of misfits for a few hours with only a slight possibility of something blowing up."

"Only a slight possibility?" she asked, though her expression softened and she smiled, admitting that she did like the idea of just spending a simple day with Tony.

"Well, it is _less_ of a possibility considering I won't be directly involved." he pointed out with a smirk, which just made her chuckle in agreement. "Hey, just because I say it, doesn't mean you have to agree with me."

"Tony, I only ever agree with you when you're right." she said sweetly, grabbing her fork to start in on the omelet. He gave a huff of aggravation at that.

"Whatever, I see how it is." he sniffed before laying back with a contented sigh as she finished her breakfast.

When she was done, they both got dressed before Tony ushered her into the Audi and they left, heading for the city.

The entire day, Tony dutifully stayed by Pepper's side while she did some shopping. He even kept his sarcastic complaints and remarks to a minimum, though the ones he did voice were paired with a teasing, equally sarcastic smirk, which just caused Pepper to roll her eyes and smack him a majority of the time.

He was, in all actuality, joking with her. No, his idea of a good time did not involve shopping in any sense of the word, but he was beginning to seriously doubt his ability to tell Pepper Potts no. It helped that he had a lot to make up to her for from over the last few months, what with almost dying a time or two and adding astronomically to her stress level with the team of super heroes they now lived with.

Once that, by Tony's description, hellish experience was over they walked aimlessly around the streets of L.A, for the most part following Pepper's direction. When they ended up at an art exhibit, however, Tony couldn't help giving a groan and looking to Pepper with a pleading expression as she raised an eyebrow.

"Pep, really?" he said, stopping stubbornly outside the building's doors.

"What's the matter, Tony?" she asked, eyes glittering with amusement as he continued to refuse to move forward.

"It's _so_ boring." he complained, before brightening slightly. "Tell you what, wait on this now, and come back another day. With Steve. He'd love to go with you and could probably provide much, _much_ better company than me. I don't know anything about these things, I won't… appreciate it. Yeah, appreciate, that's the word. Why don't we, ah, go to that really nice French restaurant you like down the block? Grab some lunch." after his quick rambling, he offered a hopeful smile that just made Pepper laugh, taking his hand and leading him away.

"I thought you hated that restaurant." she reminded, but he just gave a shudder.

"It's better than _that_." he said smugly, which made Pepper roll her eyes.

"You really need to start paying attention to things besides your science, Tony. There's a whole world of culture out there that you're just completely oblivious to." she reprimanded lightly, but he just gave an unashamed smirk.

"Funnily enough, I am perfectly alright with that." he said, his tone unconcerned.

They managed to get through a light, enjoyable lunch, before the inevitable press decided that they couldn't pass up seeing Tony Stark in L.A. for the first time in months. And having lunch with Pepper Potts no less.

The quick, nonstop questions had Pepper looking a tad uncomfortable, which in turn made Tony a tad angry. Within moments, he'd subtly insulted all of them and their intelligence in a way that had all of them wary and wondering how they should take the billionaire's words. Tony had just given a vicious smirk and continued back to the car, protectively keeping Pepper a half step in front of him.

"Sorry about that, Pep." he apologized shortly as they got back into the car and started for the mansion. It just figured that the press had to show up the _one_ day he had wanted to spend with Pepper. If they stayed in the city, they would be followed mercilessly, he knew, and typically he was fine with that. Just not when he wanted to be with Pepper.

"I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did, Tony, it's not your fault." she said lightly, smiling at him as she took his free hand that wasn't on the steering wheel in hers and leaned against his arm as she watched the scenery outside the car flash by. "Thank you for such a wonderful day."

"Well, I do have to make up for the not-so-wonderful days somehow." Tony said cheekily which earned him an exasperated sigh and an eye roll.

When they arrived back at the mansion, they were both quick to notice how unsettlingly quiet it was. And when dealing with the Avengers, that was typically a cause for concern.

"JARVIS, please tell me they didn't blow anything up." Tony said lightly, though there was an edge to exasperation to his voice.

'_No, sir. The rest of the Avengers are currently in the pool. Nothing has been damaged in your absence.'_ the AI responded easily, and Tony just snorted, leading the way back to the balcony that contained the huge infinity pool.

"Well that's a miracle." he muttered under his breath, though his eyes were bright with amusement.

As they stepped out onto the pool deck, Tony choked on a laugh he tried to suppress, which in all actuality just made it funnier. Natasha was laying out on a float, completely indifferent, but never oblivious to her surroundings. Clint and Bruce were resting on the stairs in the shallow end of the pool, watching with amusement and interest as Steve and Thor carried on an apparent heated water noodle battle in the middle of the pool.

They all looked up at the sound of Tony's choking, Natasha lifting her sunglasses slightly to meet his and Pepper's gazes as she offered an explanation.

"Thor wanted to go swimming." she said, thought here was an edge of amusement to her own voice as well.

At that point, Steve straightened and started to comment, but before he could get the words out, Thor gave a triumphant yell and smacked the super soldier over the head with his noodle. Steve then abandoned his own noddle with a slight scowl and leapt at the demi-god instead.

"Well are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come in?" Clint asked matter of factly, raising an eyebrow to the couple standing on the pool deck.

"I'll go get my suit." Pepper said, still covering her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"I don't swim." Tony said easily, tearing his eyes away from the clear water to meet Clint's gaze instead as he moved around to a reclined deck chair. Of course, that hadn't always been true, but they didn't need to know that.

Ever since Afghanistan, he hadn't stepped foot in a pool. Quick showers he could handle, but anything more than that was liable to send him into a flashback. Pools, oceans, tubs, puddles, hell even heavy rain set him off sometimes. He'd never talked to anyone about it, not even Pepper. She had never asked, respecting the cold, distant look in his eyes whenever Afghanistan was mentioned.

"So why do you even have a pool?" breaking away from Thor, who's eyes were bright with excitement.

"Uh, cause it looks awesome?" Tony lied easily, in a tone that suggested it was obvious. "Besides. What better way to get women in bikinis?"

At that Clint and Thor laughed, though Tony doubted the demi-god knew what a bikini was. Steve and Bruce shared an exasperated glance, while the billionaire could feel the heat of Natasha's glare through her sunglasses.

He tried not to act too concerned by that fact.

Pepper returned a few moments later, slipping into the pool as well and casting a sympathetic look to Tony as she did. He, on the other hand, pretended to ignore it while sitting cross-legged on a deck chair and talking amicably to Clint, who had raised himself up and turned around with one elbow supported on the deck.

They ended up staying in, or in Tony's case around, the pool until long after the sun had set. What had to be the highlight of the afternoon was Clint flipping over Natasha's raft and unceremoniously dumping her into the water. The archer's laughter had quickly died when the female assassin had resurfaced with an icy glare that was directed solely at him.

"Hell." he muttered, though his obvious amusement was still glinting in his eyes.

Not one of the other Avengers intervened when she launched herself at him, which in all of their minds was a very wise decision. They were slightly surprised when both came up from their underwater wrestling match laughing. Or more, Clint was laughing, and Natasha was giving a quiet chuckle and her customary small smile.

"That didn't end as I expected." Tony said, sounding vaguely disappointed which just made Clint roll his eyes and splash a bit of water at him.

Later, however, once the archer had gotten out and spent a few minutes at everyone's insistence making a pile of grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, Natasha got out and calmly walked past him before spinning sharply and planting her foot between his shoulder blades which sent him falling back into the water.

There was silence for a few moments as Clint's spluttering form made its way back to the surface before they all started laughing.

"Hilarious." Clint spat as he vaulted out of the pool, before giving a decidedly mischievous smirk and continuing to walk back over to the group and shake his dripping form off like a dog, showering them all with pool water.

"Barton, towels exist for a _reason_." Tony complained, snatching up a sandwich before retreating away again as if wary of a repeat performance.

"Where's the fun in that?" the archer asked sarcastically, grabbing a sandwich from the plate he'd brought out, after everyone else had grabbed one.

It wasn't long after that, that everyone went their separate ways, most going to take showers. Tony, on the other hand, went down to his lab and had JARVIS crank up his favorite Black Sabbath album before he brought out his old arc reactor; the one that he'd had in Nevada. Over the past couple months he'd been trying to figure out how he could fix the design so it didn't react like it had to electricity in the future. Not that he planned on being electrocuted again; four days was long enough for his lifetime, thank you very much. But one thing he really didn't like being was unprepared. So he'd fix the problem anyway. He hadn't gotten far at all, probably because he hadn't been working on it as diligently as he should have been.

It wasn't long before he was immersed in the project, running through the calculations and models in his head and occasionally speaking to JARVIS as well. He barely even noticed when his music paused, and certainly didn't look up, even as the smell of coffee met his nose. A minute later, the music started back up without anyone saying a word so he quickly forgot about it, asking JARVIS to instead bring up a listing of all the arc reactor's components that had been rendered useless by the electricity.

An undetermined amount of time later, he gave a frustrated sigh and sat back, rubbing a hand down his face and glaring at the offensive piece of technology that had at one point been keeping him alive. Unthinkingly, he reached for the still somewhat warm cup of coffee that had been sat on his desk, frowning slightly when he took a sip and realized that he hadn't actually brought it down with him.

Looking up and around, he relaxed slightly with a small smirk when he saw Bruce sitting at another workbench a few feet away, bent over a notebook where he was busy writing down a list of complex calculations. He shook his head slightly, still not understanding why the doctor even bothered with working his ideas out on paper anymore. It wasn't at all necessary, and yet, he still did it with all of his personal projects.

As if he could feel the gaze on him, Bruce looked up, smirking when he saw Tony had turned away from his arc reactor.

"Any luck?" the doctor asked, not needing to ask what it was he was working on as he sat his notebook aside and turned to fully face him instead.

"Not really. I know I need to change the metal casing around the element, but I can't seem to find a replacement that will work." Tony said, sounding aggravated, and Bruce just gave a dry chuckle.

"Well, seeing as you created the element, I'm not sure how much help I or anyone else will be to you." he pointed out dryly, and Tony gave a snort and rolled his eyes.

"I'll figure it out. Thanks by the way." he said assuredly, giving the coffee cup a slight wave before his eyes narrowed when he noticed that Bruce had adopted a more concerned expression. "What's wrong?"

"Tony," Bruce started slowly, carefully meeting the billionaire's gaze. "Have you ever… talked to anyone about it?"

Almost instantly Tony froze, lowering his eyes to the floor instead of looking at the man across from him. Leave it to Bruce to have picked up on his distance earlier, and now felt the need to bring it up.

"About what?" he asked, his tone one of forced calm, that just made Bruce give him a level, piercing look.

"Afghanistan." he said matter of factly, and Tony shuddered and froze again, this time his coffee cup halfway to his desk.

It was another few moments before he composed himself enough to set down the mug, still pointedly not glancing up to Bruce.

"Of course." Tony forced out, his forced attempt at a light tone obvious. "Phil was pretty insistent about his whole 'debriefing' thing. Then there was the FBI, CIA, DOD, any other three letter acronyms you can think of that would want terrorist information…" he trailed off, knowing that what he said in no way answered Bruce's question in the way it way it was intended.

"Tony, that's not what I meant." the doctor confirmed gently, though he didn't back down, rolling his chair closer. "I mean, how long has it been since what happened in Nevada, and still you haven't talked to any of us about it, not even Pepper. I can almost guarantee that you would have done the same thing after Afghanistan."

The billionaire didn't respond or even acknowledge the other man's words, desperately trying to think of a way to avoid this conversation. For years he'd managed to do so, and he wasn't keen to change that now.

"Not even you would have a pool based solely on the fact that it 'looked awesome'." Bruce continued without response from him. "And there isn't one at all in the Tower, despite the fact that there's definitely room. Now that I actively think about it, I could keep going. Something obviously happened to you, Tony. It can't be good for you to keep all that bottled up to yourself. You can tell me."

"You read my file; you know what happened." Tony muttered tonelessly, unconsciously bracing his arms on the side of his chair.

"Actually, I don't." Bruce corrected lightly, eyes still locked onto Tony's form and watching him carefully. "Fury never gave me files on the rest of you when I was brought in. Probably because all he originally wanted me for was to find his gamma-emitting cube. I have absolutely no idea, Tony, the only reason I even know it happened was because I've heard people talking about it in passing. And besides, you expect me to believe you gave Fury the whole story?"

Tony snorted at that, more reflex than anything, closing his eyes tightly and warring with himself. Could he tell Bruce the truth? Hell, didn't Bruce _deserve_ to know the truth? After trusting him with so much, couldn't he manage to do the same? He couldn't ever bring himself to tell Pepper, knowing how much she would worry about him. It was bad enough when she had to wake him up from his nightmares. And Rhodey… Rhodey was just Rhodey. His best friend, yes, but not the best person to go to with sensitive conversation.

"I… I woke up in a cave with a car battery hooked up to my chest." he admitted nearly inaudibly, keeping his eyes closed, but able to feel that Bruce leaned slightly closer. "I had been in the country doing a weapons' demonstration. Our Humvee was attacked afterwards, I was too close to a missile – one of my missiles- that detonated. That's how I got the shrapnel in my chest. I was captured by a terrorist cell known as the Ten Rings, and their base was in one of the country's cave systems. They had another captive too; he was the one that did the surgery to get out what shrapnel he could, and put an electromagnet in for what he couldn't, hence the car battery." Tony paused then, swallowing thickly. He had _never_ told anyone about Yinsen, and actually bringing it up hurt a lot more than he had expected. After a few moments, he managed to compose himself to continue, however, and did so. "The Ten Rings, they wanted me to build them a missile. More specifically, a Jericho missile. They already had crates and crates of _my_ weapons… And I refused."

At that, he finally managed to open his eyes and looked up slightly just in time to see Bruce give a knowing, sympathetic wince. That just made him sigh and wring his hands before finally forcing himself to continue again.

"They, ah… they had their fun shoving my head into a tub of water for what felt like forever. I guess they used that so I would still be in a condition to build their shit when I agreed." Tony stopped again, tremors running through his body now as the memories threatened to overwhelm him. The drowning feeling, the burning in his throat, nose and lungs as water invaded them when he tried to breathe. The sparks from the wires leading to his chest when they got wet, and the deep, wet coughs that lasted for hours after as he tried to get the water out of his lungs.

"Tony! Tony, it's alright, you're safe. You're not there anymore, they can't hurt you." Bruce leaned forward and spoke quietly and calmly when he saw the haunted distance in his friend's eyes, as well as the shakes that went across his body. At the moment, he hated himself for even bringing the subject up, if this was all that was going to come of it. No wonder the billionaire didn't swim.

When Tony showed no outward reaction to his words, Bruce bit his lip and lightly gripped both of his shoulders, not knowing if the touch would help, or just worsen the situation.

"Tony, it's me. It's Bruce. You're alright, you're safe." he said, keeping his grip when the man violently tried to jerk away, wildly moving to meet his gaze.

Thankfully, the recognition didn't take long to spark, and when it did, Tony moved to grip Bruce's arm that led to his right shoulder like a lifeline, taking a few shuddering breaths. Bruce used his other hand to carefully reach over and grab Tony's coffee that had been set aside, silently offering it to the billionaire's free hand. He didn't at all comment on or try to remove Tony's hold on his arm, not when the contact seemed to be slowly calming him at least somewhat.

"I'm sorry, I never should have brought it up." Bruce said quietly a handful of long minutes later, his eyes concerned and fighting down the Big Guy, who wanted at these 'Ten Rings' people. Tony should _not_ be acting like this. It was wrong on so many levels, and he wondered just how much of his true feelings the billionaire was constantly keeping under wraps from them.

"I've just… never talked about it. To anyone, ever." Tony admitted with another shudder, slowly releasing Bruce's arm with a hint of embarrassment.

"That's a long time to keep something like that bottled up." Bruce pointed out, letting his hand slip off of Tony's shoulder, knowing human contact wasn't a favorite of his.

"I just never wanted anyone to know, mainly because…" Tony paused, casting an ashamed look up to Bruce before he continued. "Mainly because I gave in. I told them I'd do it. I didn't, of course, but there's the same principle."

"Tony…" Bruce trailed off gently, but the billionaire just ignored him and spoke again.

"I built the arc reactor first, just so I could get that damn car battery off of me. Then I started working on the first Iron Man suit." there Tony gave an actual smirk, though it was far darker than normal. "The idiots were hopeless, they didn't know missile from suit. The other man, his name was Yinsen. He helped me with everything. And when it came time to actually escape… We wired the door before I started putting the suit on and booting it up. The technology we were using was stone-age, it was taking forever. Then a few of the guards had to go and blow the charges too early, which obviously didn't bode to well with trying to keep a low profile. Yinsen grabbed one of their guns and went to distract them while the suit finished. I told him not to, I told him to follow the plan. The suit finally finished and I fought my way to the mouth of the cave. Yinsen… he was bleeding out by the time I got there. I couldn't save him, even though he'd saved me a few times by then. Last thing he told me was not to waste my life, which I have managed to do _so_ well." the bitter sarcasm was easily apparent in his voice and Bruce straightened with a frown, features hardening.

"How can you say that, Tony, look what you've created. How many lives you've already saved with it." the doctor protested, but Tony just stared at him, looking unconvinced. "I'm serious, Tony. You haven't wasted anything; what you've accomplished is amazing, even for you."

Bruce wasn't sure how the billionaire could always act so confident and cocky all the time, and yet still look past his every accomplishment so easily. It was almost depressing, really.

"I've never told anyone about Yinsen either." Tony admitted, shaking Bruce from his thoughts. "I watched him die for me, Bruce."

"I would say I'm sorry, but we both know it wouldn't help anything." the doctor said, though his voice was still apologetic, and Tony bowed his head slightly. "Is there anything else I should know about? That you're not comfortable with?" he asked next, not willing to press the issue and ask about Nevada in the same night. Talking about Afghanistan alone seemed to have exhausted him both physically and mentally.

"Certain shades of brown, bare light bulbs and car batteries." Tony said, his tone seeming to return closer to its normal confident air, though it was obvious that he still wasn't comfortable with the conversation.

Bruce nodded slowly, waiting to see if the man would say anything else. Tony didn't disappoint, finally looking up again and meeting the doctor's gaze with a small smirk, his expression having been schooled into one that was more typical.

"Well wasn't that just a beautiful conversation?" he asked sarcastically, and Bruce gave a small grin of his own, shaking his head.

Tony moved back to his desk then, giving his head its own shake before Bruce followed, now looking interested in helping him with the arc reactor designs.

The two continued to work with one another late into the night, not once mentioning the conversation they had had.

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it. The new chapter shouldn't take nearly as long to get up, and I do apologize for the wait for this one.  
~Dogstar**


	4. Chapter 4

**I bet when I said that the update would come much sooner, you weren't expecting it to be within 24 hours. But, here it is anyway, with an incredibly short update time to make up for the long one I gave you between chapters 2 and 3. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and alerted this story.**

**And, finally we have some action this chapter. Pretty much the whole chapter really, and I'd really like it if you all tell me what you think.**

**Something I forgot to put in my AN last chapter:**

** I messed up I (repeatedly) called Rhodey a Corporal, when he is in fact a Colonel. Thank you to everyone that pointed that out to me, and sorry for my mistake.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

The next few days passed in the bliss that came with a complete lack of responsibility. At any given time, Tony and Bruce could be found in the lab working on a collection of projects that the others didn't want to get into a conversation about. It wasn't that they didn't care, it was that they were afraid of not being able to follow the conversation. Clint introduced Steve and Thor to Stark's vast collection of video games, Steve taking to them rather adeptly. Natasha would join them occasionally, watching Clint's animated explanations and game play with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

They also occasionally ventured into the city, Steve in fact accompanying Pepper to the art exhibit she'd seen on her date with Tony. It was Bruce, Clint and Steve that got the pleasure of showing Thor around Hollywood. It was quite the experience, and the demi-god had far more than his fair share of questions, but they were all having a good time, and everyone was aware of Steve's almost awestruck expression.

At the end of the Avengers' fifth day in Malibu, Clint had volunteered to make dinner, and was currently taking suggestions for what to make, the rest of the team and Pepper gathered around him, haphazardly seated at the table, or at the counter.

"Enchiladas." Bruce tossed out, giving a slightly affronted look to Tony when the billionaire scoffed.

"Spaghetti." he tossed out his own suggestion easily, making Clint, Bruce, Natasha and Pepper roll their eyes, while Thor spoke up, his voice pointed.

"Friend Stark, that is always your suggestion." the demi-god reminded, his eyes almost amused. "Surely there is more than that one dish that you find appetizing."

"Well sure, but that's my favorite." Tony protested defensively. "Do I tell you people what to like?"

"On occasion." Clint responded dryly, pausing as his cell phone rang from his pocket. He frowned when he recognized the number to Fury's secure line and held up a hand to quiet the others before he answered the call, holding the phone to his ear. "What can I do for you, Director?"

'_Barton,'_ Fury started, but before he could get any further than that, Tony stepped forward and lightly snatched the phone from the archer's grip and instead held it to his own ear.

"Fury, what about the concept of 'vacation' do you not understand?" he asked lightly with an almost arrogant expression, ignoring the scowl Clint had directed at him.

None of them could hear the words behind the loud, clearly angry shouts that came through Clint's phone next, but the billionaire himself almost instantly lost his arrogance, eyes widening slightly. After only a few moments, he held the now silent phone out to the archer.

"It's for you." he said matter of factly, causing Natasha, Steve and Thor to cover up laughs.

"Sir?" Clint questioned, taking the phone when Tony handed it back to him with a blank expression.

'_I've got a mission for you, Barton. An extraction. I sent Stark the file.'_ Fury said shortly, and Clint blinked in surprise.

"Why me, sir?" he asked. Fury had pulled him from working extractions years ago.

'_Because I can't risk sending a team. This is _very_ high risk, Barton. It's going to have to be dealt with using the very definition of stealth. A team of our agents were working on taking down a very powerful Italian arms ring. They were found out two days ago, and they're being held in the ring's base of operations; a warehouse in downtown L.A.'_ Fury said and Clint nodded to himself.

So it was also because he was local.

"Tony, print me that file that Fury just sent you." he said shortly, before speaking to the director again. "Anything else I need to know, sir, that's not in the file. Who is it?"

'_The agents in question are Napier, Akers and Lewis.'_ Fury said matter of factly, and Clint felt himself stiffen at the names.

He was being sent in to save three agents that had taken pleasure in beating the crap out of him for weeks after the attack on the helicarrier that had killed the rest of their ten man unit.

'_Barton. This had better not be a problem.'_ Fury said in warning, and Clint quickly shook his head.

"No, sir." he muttered. "I'll get suited up and let you know when a get a comm. channel set up."

'_I don't need to tell you that speed is a factor here, Barton. Give the phone to Romanoff, I've got something for her too.'_ Fury said shortly, and Clint passed his phone to her before making for his room without another word to any of them.

Within minutes, he was suited up, quiver on his back, bow in its slot, knives in their sheathes and pistol on his hip. He stepped back into the kitchen just in time for Tony to do the same, carrying a thick sheaf of papers.

"Hawkeye, this doesn't look at all good." the billionaire said, his tone concerned as opposed to it's typical cockiness. "You shouldn't be going anywhere near this alone."

"Tony, I'm sure I've been fine through worse. These are SHIELD agents that need an extraction." Clint said coolly, his expression smooth and clear of any emotion as he took the file and began looking through it.

"Yeah, SHIELD agents that thought it was acceptable to use you as a punching bag a couple months ago." Tony pointed out with a frown and narrowed eyes. Clint just gave a slight sigh, even if his expression didn't change.

"It doesn't matter, Tony. They need my help, and Fury gave me a mission. I'm just going in to get them, and getting them out. It's not like I'm clearing the warehouse." he said shortly.

"Good thing too. There's a crap ton of them. A literal crap ton of _arms dealers_." Tony snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and sharing a glance with Steve.

"Are you sure one of us can't go with you?" the Captain asked carefully, but Clint just shook his head.

"Cap, guys, I'll be fine." Clint said reassuringly, still skimming over the file quickly, memorizing names, faces, and building layouts. "This is kinda my job. Well, in an slightly flipped way seeing as I'm doing the saving and not the killing."

"We just don't want you doing the 'being killed'." Tony grumbled, but finally Thor spoke up, his tone one of amusement.

"Friends, we have all seen the Hawk's abilities, in many different situations including some that no mere human should be able to overcome. Perhaps we should have faith in his judgment." the demi-god said wisely, causing everyone to look at him with varying degrees of surprise.

Clint was the first to respond, giving Thor a tight smirk and a nod.

"Thank you, Thor." he said pointedly, before he continued as his eyes returned to the file. "Of course that whole 'mere human' dig was almost an insult."

They all gave twitters of nervous laughter at that, just as Natasha slid back into the room, suited up as well.

She gave him a look that said she'd explain on the way, and Clint stepped up beside her without skipping a beat, catching the keys that Tony tossed at them.

"One of my more inconspicuous cars. Good luck." he called after them, and Natasha waved a hand to signify they'd heard before they slipped out of the mansion without even a sound.

"So I'm on extraction and you are…?" Clint asked as they climbed into a dark sedan that Stark had offered for them to use.

"I'm on their target. SHIELD wants the man alive." Natasha explained as she got into the driver's seat. "Though, I don't doubt that you pulled the raw end of this situation. You're going to have to be very careful, Clint, because you'll never actually follow protocol. You have no idea what kind of condition they're going to be in." she reminded lightly, and Clint gave a short nod of acceptance.

"I know, Tasha, and you know how I feel about that protocol." the archer said evenly, before sliding his comm. link into his ear and speaking into it. "SHIELD base, this is Hawkeye. Confirm secure communication link."

'_Hawkeye, this is SHIELD base. Secure link confirmed and patching you over to Director Fury now.'_ an even voice responded, and Clint took the time to look over the building layout one more time, committing every inch to memory, so he would know every possible entrance and exit.

'_Hawkeye, the nearest SHIELD safe house, and in this case your extraction point, is a bakery storefront called 'Sheila's Bakery' six blocks to the north-east of the warehouse. You let us know when you're ready. I'll be on the other end here the entire time.'_ Fury's voice came over next, and Clint nodded mostly to himself.

"Duly noted sir. I'll give you a heads up when I have eyes on Napier, Akers and Lewis." he told the older man, who gave a wordless grunt of agreement as response.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the archer had made his way inside the warehouse's ventilation system without a ripple and was currently picking his way through the ducts in an attempt to find the three SHIELD agents. It was much, _much_ less time than he would have preferred to do a sweep of the outside of the building, and try to figure out any patterns not in his file. He had a feeling that before this was over it was going to get a little sloppy, if for no other reason than because he was operating so quickly on so little intel. That wasn't to say he wouldn't get it done, however. As far as he was concerned, that wasn't an option. He frowned when he heard an odd combination of low, growled words and a choking, splashing sound.

Carefully, testing every inch of the duct before he moved to make sure it wouldn't creak with his weight, he inched forward to the next vent, listening carefully. He couldn't see anything beneath him, but the sounds were clearly coming from that vent, and they weren't at all promising. Unholstering his pistol slowly, seeing as his extended bow wouldn't fit through the vent.

Within moments, he'd dropped down, landing in a graceful crouch on the balls of his feet to maintain his silence. He looked around quickly, weapon ready in his hand, only to slowly relax when he realized he was on a sort of loft above a small room of the warehouse that had probably been originally a storage room of some sort. It was dimly lit, the only light coming from a few bare bulbs on the main level below him. He inched slowly forward to the edge of the loft so he could see down, feeling himself stiffen in anger when he saw what was going on below him.

Both Akers and Lewis were bound directly below him, their arms pulled behind them and secured to the wall. Clint couldn't tell anything else from his position, but his eyes were immediately drawn to nearer to the center of the room where four guards were standing over where Napier was bound to a chair by his arms and ankles. The entire top half of his body was soaked, and he was currently coughing and choking as if trying to get air into his lungs.

Clint felt ice in his veins, slowly putting his pistol away before reaching instead for his bow. He recognized a water boarding when he saw one, and if the sound of Napier's labored almost wet-sounding breaths were any indication, they'd been at this a while.

"Tell us who you are, and who you are working for." one of the men said in strongly Italian accented English, and Napier took a few long moments to try to regain his breath before he responded.

"Screw you." he gasped out eventually, and the guard scowled before pulling a damp cloth over the agent's face and forcing his head back while the agent was in the middle of a deep, choking cough which prevented him from sucking in any substantial air.

Clint watched the other man writhe and convulse against his bonds as a thick stream of water poured over his face for about thirty seconds with cold, detached eyes before he jerked his bow open and grabbed and notched an arrow in one smooth motion. He fired it in the next, not waiting to see it sprout of the eye socket of the man pouring the water before he continued with the next, and then again until all four guards were down on the ground and dead.

Despite the fact that his head was now free, and he was trying vainly to shake it off, the soaked cloth across Napier's face wasn't moving and he was still unable to breathe. In seconds, Clint had jumped down and was at his side, both completely ignoring Akers and Lewis for the moment and ripping the cloth off of Napier's face while crouching beside him.

"Hey, Napier, just keep coughing, alright? Clear out your lungs." Clint ordered sharply, quickly producing a knife and cutting through the ropes around his upper arms, chest and ankles with ease. His wrists were bound with handcuffs instead, but Clint would work on that when he was sure that Napier could breathe properly.

Instead, he forced the man to lean forward as much as he could, watching coolly as he expelled way too much water for comfort from his coughing and choking, barely managing a few gasping breaths between each bout.

Unbidden, Clint was reminded of a somewhat similar incident under much different circumstances years ago, when he and Napier were both recruits. Napier had originally been training to be a covert assassin as well, but his handler had gone a bit too far in anti-interrogation training, and the result had been somewhat like this. Not long after, Napier had decided he wasn't quite cut out for the job and had changed divisions.

"Barton?" he demanded as a wheeze once he'd gotten air into his lungs a few long minutes later, turning his head to the best of his ability to look at the archer, who had now turned his attention to the tight handcuffs on the other agent's wrists.

"Good to see you too, Napier." he said coolly, pulling a small lock pick from a pocket of his suit. "We really have to stop meeting like this."

"What the hell are you doing here?" the older agent continued, not at all amused, though there was a clear shake running continuously through his body. "Fury doesn't use you for extraction. Ever."

"Tell you what, you keep coughing up that water, and I'll worry about the semantics, alright?" Clint prompted, pulling the now open cuffs away from the other man's wrists and standing quickly to go to the remaining two agents, who Clint could now see were both blindfolded and gagged, which explained their silence.

"So what, you're here to kill us?" Napier prompted hoarsely, eyes narrowed into suspicion as he brought his arms forward slowly.

Clint paused, running a hand down his face before he responded.

"Yes, Napier." he said dryly. "I just put arrows through the eye sockets of the four guys water boarding you, kept you from drowning and cut you loose because I'm going to kill you. Your logic is just beautiful."

He ignored the his still suspicious expression and moved to Lewis first removing both blindfold and gag before moving to cut through the thick ropes binding him to the wall. Thankfully, he didn't look injured, though his gaze was suspicious too.

Sighing, Clint moved on to Akers, frowning when he saw the pool of blood that had formed beneath the third agent, who was limp and pale against the wall.

"Akers, you with me?" he prompted as he cut the man loose quickly, turning his chin so their gazes met. "How much blood have you lost?"

He shrugged slightly before sucking in a breath and responding.

"Infection. Through and through to my left thigh." he slurred and Clint gave a short nod, turning to look to Lewis who had approached quickly.

"Lewis, get me that cloth they were using for your blindfold." he ordered quickly, snatching up the one that had been used on Akers as well, tying the two together to make one long strip that he then used to make a sort of tourniquet above the bloody hole in the agent's leg.

He worked quickly, not knowing how much time he had before they were discovered.

"Why did Fury send you, Barton?" Napier asked after a few moments, his worried gaze on Akers as Clint slowly helped him to his feet, Lewis taking his spot quickly.

"Because it was too risky to send a team in considering the situation." Clint said shortly, turning his defiant gaze to Napier, who blinked. "There's too many hostiles, too many unknown guns for an all-out assault. Like it or not, Napier, right now, I'm the only way you're getting out of here."

"Barton, we all know the protocol for a high-risk extraction." the soaked, dark-haired man said in a low voice, Akers and Lewis freezing at his words while Clint just snorted.

The man was right, he knew the protocol. If the agents held captive couldn't be safely freed without endangering the life of the agent doing the extraction, that agent was to consider his orders changed to elimination instead. Meaning, technically, if Clint was ever worried for his own safety at any point, it was his job to kill Napier, Akers and Lewis and get his own ass the hell out of Dodge.

He _hated_ that protocol. It was stupid, even Phil had thought so, and had directly disobeyed it for him a few times over the years.

"Napier, did you ever wonder why Fury stopped sending me on extractions?" Clint asked matter of factly, watching as confusion lit in the man's eyes and he slowly shook his head. "It's because I make it my own sole mission to completely ignore every letter of that protocol. Mostly because I'm too in control of the situation for my life to be in danger. Of course, SHIELD has come to take that to mean I'm too stubborn to know when the correct decision needs to be made and as such, they don't typically send me on extractions anymore. Luckily enough for you, I was local."

All three agents were staring at him with wide eyes, which just made Clint smirk, before he touched the comm. in his ear.

"Fury, you copy?" he asked, hearing a quick grunt of affirmative quickly after. "What's the status on Widow's mission?"

'_She's in the process of leaving the area with her target now. Be advised that they know something is up now, so be prepared to have to act.'_ Fury warned him and Clint scowled but gave a slight nod to himself.

"Noted." he said easily, making Fury growl quietly.

'_Barton, you know I have to at least tell you to follow protocol.'_ he said shortly, but Clint just snorted.

"Please, sir, can we just admit between me and you here that you only sent me because you didn't actually _want_ protocol followed?" he asked dryly, giving a slight roll of his eyes a Fury's sound of disagreement. "I mean I know you can't just go out and say that to the Council, but seriously. You know, luckily enough I'm fine with being your fall guy for this, so long as I don't get fired or anything. But uh," he cast a quick glance to the other three agent's slack jawed expressions and gave a smirk before he continued. "I'll let you know when we get to the extraction point. Be advised, my current most complete plan of action involves blowing this pop stand. Literally."

'_You're a God-damn pain in my ass, Barton.'_ Fury growled, aggravated but not angry.

"I'm taking that as acceptance." the archer said lightly, before he looked over to Napier, Akers and Lewis and sliding back into focus. "So I know he's been shot; what other injures do we have?"

"Ribs." Napier grunted with a grimace, and Clint nodded, looking to Lewis who shook his head.

"I've got a few bumps and scratches, nothing major." he said and Clint nodded again, before slipping his pistol out of its holster and holding it out to Napier.

"Lewis, I want you to help Akers. He's not going to be walking on his own, and we're going to have to move quick." the archer said quickly, and Lewis nodded a determined acceptance. "All of you stay with me. From where we are in the building, the hallway just outside this door will lead to a stairwell with roof access. That's our ticket out of here and to the extraction point."

"What'd you do, scope out the place?" Napier asked, sounding grudgingly impressed, but Clint just shook his head.

"No, I memorized the layout on the way here. And seriously, whatever issues you have with me, bench them now because you have all got to trust me for at least the next hour or so." he said firmly, waiting until he got three nods of hesitant acceptance before he took his bow off his back and held it ready in his hand before going to the door of the room.

He opened it slowly, acting as soon as he saw there was a guard flanking the left side of the door way. Before he could make a sound or react other than widening his eyes, his neck was snapped and he was crumpling to the ground. Of course, it was then that Clint became aware of the second man that had been standing on the other hallway, that was now staring wide-eyed in shock.

Apparently, he wasn't armed because he wasn't firing on them in any fashion, instead turning and starting down the hall, shouting at the top of his lungs in what sounded like Italian. Just as the man turned a corner in the hallway, Clint loosed the arrow he'd drawn, watching as it deflected off the far wall and was quickly followed by the sound of impact, and the man's shouts gurgling into silence.

Other voices quickly took over, however, consisting of a much larger group of men. And in an arms dealer's warehouse, it was far too much to hope that they wouldn't be carrying as well.

"At this point I would ask that you please proceed into getting a valid head start towards our target staircase; end of the hall on the left." Clint said lightly, pressing a few buttons on his bow before drawing an explosive arrow and firing it almost lazily into the far wall as the voices grew louder, especially when they apparently caught sight of his arrow.

Clint pressed the button to detonate just as he saw the first men turn the corner, carrying a range of weapons that he really wasn't in the mood to be on the wrong end of. Napier, Akers and Lewis had all started down the hall like he'd said, but Clint held his ground stubbornly, loading another explosive arrow as he ducked out of the way of flying bits of debris from the first explosion.

He scowled as it became clear that a few of the men had gotten through that explosion and were now pointing the earlier mentioned weapons at him. The archer aimed his arrow at the ceiling just before the wave of men that had now started firing at him, letting it go in one quick motion before he turned and sprinted after the other agents.

This arrow exploded on impact, dropping what basically amounted to the ceiling onto the men that had been pursuing him. Clint stumbled slightly with a curse when he felt a piece of debris from the explosion slam into the back of his head, but he quickly righted himself and kept running despite the stars that flashed in his vision.

His head jerked up at the sound of gunshots ahead of him, and he scowled when he saw that a quartet of armed men had appeared from another room down the hall. Napier had dropped two with the pistol he'd been given before he'd ducked behind the open door that Lewis had pulled Akers behind.

Before Napier had to stick himself out to fire again, Clint drew two arrows in rapid succession as he ran, each burying deep into the chests of one of the two remaining men.

He slowed to a stop beside where the group of three agents was still situated, taking turns staring at him, and the burning piles of destruction behind him.

"Are we good?" Clint asked sharply, knowing that they didn't have much time to waste if they wanted to get out of the building without being reduced to swiss cheese.

"Yeah." Napier gave a quick nod, glancing to his other two men before back to Clint.

"Fantastic, let's go." Clint said dryly, glancing up and down the hallway one more time before he led the group to the stairs that would take them to the roof.

He let Napier start up first, followed by Lewis and Akers while Clint took up the back. After only a few steps, however, it became apparent that Akers wasn't going to be walking up the stairs with his leg the way it was. Carefully in the narrow stairwell, Clint edged up to the man's other side and together he and Lewis were able to mostly carry him up.

Of course, they weren't expecting to have a group of six men waiting for them on the roof either. Before Napier had even taken two steps out onto the roof, two men had grabbed his arms and pulled his gun away, while the other four had turned to the grouping of Clint, Akers and Lewis.

"Get down on the ground." Clint muttered to Akers and Lewis, fixing his grip on his bow, before swiftly lashing out with it and leaping forward, striking the four hostiles across the arms and for the most part knocking their guns to the side.

One managed to get a shot off, shouting at him in Italian, but Clint didn't particularly care to try to figure out what he was saying, quickly ducking and rolling to the side. He came up into a crouch with an arrow notched into his bow, firing it into the heart of the man who had tried to shoot him. In the next moment, he jumped up to flip over the heads of the men that had run at him, twisting around once he landed to reach around and snap his bow back into the throat of one of the men, instantly crushing his windpipe. The other spun to face him with wide, fearful eyes.

Clint aimed a quick, easy, spinning kick to his temple that made the man drop like a sack of rocks, before doing half a back flip onto his hands and reaching up to wrap his legs around the neck of the huge man that had been coming up behind him. He then fell into a roll that had the man flipping over him and landing hard on his back, neck already snapped.

Clint hissed slightly at the way his quiver was digging into his back, and didn't quite have time to flip to his feet before there was a foot flying at his head. He rolled and caught the offending limb, giving it a harsh twist to dislocate the hip of the unfortunate man it was attached to, causing a scream of agony that was abruptly cut off when Clint used the knife that was now in his hand to slice his throat.

By Clint's count, that was five, and he turned to see if the sixth was still on Napier when he heard an arrow being jerked from his quiver, as well as a shout of warning from one of the other agents.

In the next moment, he felt something stab its way through his suit and into his right shoulder blade, the tip of the weapon scratching against the bone and causing a flare of fiery pain to travel through his back and arm.

He knew without looking that there was now an arrow sticking out of his back and he spun to face the man responsible barely in time to duck around the fist being swung at his head. His right arm was completely useless at the moment and Clint quickly transferred his knife to his left hand and threw it with unerring accuracy into the throat of the man that had stabbed him.

All of the men dealt with, Clint let out a quick, shuddering puff of breath and closed his eyes as he tried to internally figure out how bad the injury was and subsequently deal with the pain. He could still feel where the tip of the arrow had struck the bone of his shoulder blade, which hurt like a _bitch_. He was lucky, however, that it hadn't gone into the joint itself, which could have proven disastrous for his chances of ever shooting a bow again.

"Barton?" Napier's raspy voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked around sharply to see that all three agents were staring at him with a mix of awe and concern in their eyes.

He simply grunted before reaching around and wrapping his hand around the shaft of the arrow sticking out of his back. Clenching his jaw to brace for the pain he knew this would cause, Clint gave the arrow one quick jerk to pull it out, managing to not make a sound.

"You know, all the years I've been doing this, and this is the first time that has happened." he said tonelessly, dropping the arrow to the ground and looking back up to the other agents.

He saved them from responding by moving over to the north-east side of the roof and looking over their options. He knew the quicker they got off this roof the better. He didn't know how many people his explosions had taken out, or how long it would take whoever was remaining to get past the debris. The easiest way would be to grapple across to one of the other rooftops of a shorter building and go from there, but that would require him to fire his bow, which could be a problem at this point.

Deciding it was their only option, Clint quickly pulled out the thick cord he kept in the bottom of his quiver for rappelling purposes, and quickly cut off three pieces, handing one to each of the agents who had approached him silently. Wordlessly, Clint then took his bow off of his back and loaded a grappling arrow, drawing it in the next moment.

"Barton, you can't shoot that thing with your shoulder…" Napier's protest trailed off as Clint ignored him, gritting his teeth before pulling the arrow back, letting out a shaky breath and firing.

Only a few moments later, they heard the sound of impact as the arrow secured itself into an air conditioning unit on the next roof top, and Clint then moved to secure the line to the edge of the roof they were standing on. The height difference between the buildings created enough of an incline that they would be able to slide down to the other building without a problem.

Trying to ignore the fact that the muscles in the back of his shoulder were now screaming at him, Clint motioned for Lewis to go first, watching as the agent gripped his rope tightly before dropping lightly off the roof. The archer couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief when the man landed safely on the other side, waving for the others to follow. Napier went next, and Clint looked to Akers who was even paler than before, and sweating profusely, his eyes dull.

"Akers, can you manage this?" Clint asked gruffly, not wanting the man's hands to slip and cause him to fall. That would most likely kill him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I've got this." the man said shortly and Clint didn't have time to continue to question, helping him off the roof and watching him intently until both Napier and Lewis caught him on the other side.

Clint let out a short breath, wincing slightly as he too dropped off the roof, using his bow to carry him across. His shoulder didn't like that development either and he barely managed to keep his grip long enough to get to the other building. Keeping his face as blank as he could, Clint cut the grappling line that led to the warehouse before continuing to the other side of the roof. Thankfully, this building had a fire escape.

They were completely silent as they walked the six blocks to the extraction point as quickly as they could, Clint able to feel the blood that was seeping out of his injury. He couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief when he reached the store front reading 'Sheila's Bakery', and found the palm scanner to open the door beneath the windowsill to the right of the door.

"Find the first aid kit." Clint instructed Lewis, as soon as he'd lowered Akers to the floor in the back bay area behind the fake store front.

As the agent quickly did so, the archer himself reached for his comm. speaking into it quickly.

"Fury, we've reached the extraction point, requesting extraction. Akers needs immediate medical attention." he reported, listening as Fury's grudgingly impressed voice came back.

'_Copy, Agent Barton, we'll have a team at your location in twenty minutes.'_ the director told him and Clint snorted.

"And someone to drop me back off at Stark's." he stated more than asked, which just made Fury give an unhappy growl.

'_Someone will be there.'_ he confirmed and Clint gave a nod to himself, turning as he saw Napier coming up to him out of the corner of his eye.

"You should get that shoulder looked at." the still damp, dark haired agent told him matter of factly, but Clint just snorted.

"As far as you three are concerned, I'm not hurt." he told them pointedly, which just made all of them look at him like he was insane. "If SHIELD doesn't know I was hurt, they can't prove I broke protocol. In my report, the explosions did them all in, and we got up to the roof and off of it without problems."

Unhappy realization sparked in Napier's eyes, which just made Clint snort again, rubbing the back of his head to make sure it wasn't bleeding as well, seeing as the throbbing of his head from where the debris from the explosion had hit it had returned full force. Thankfully, his hand came back clean, just as Napier spoke again.

"You can't let a wound like that go untreated."

"Napier, I live with a doctor, alright? I'll get it checked out. Now stop caring, because it's really starting to creep me out."

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**And there we have it. Please feel free to tell me what you think; love it, hate it, ect. The next update won't be quite as short as this one, but it shouldn't be long.  
~Dogstar**


	5. Chapter 5

**Greetings everyone! Just to let you know, I'm still working on responding to all of the reviews to last chapter, I just wanted to go ahead and get this up for you guys. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or alerted this story.**

**A little Clint/Natasha at the end of this chapter for those that have been waiting for it. Not much, but a little. ^^**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter, and maybe give me your feedback in a review.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

By the time the black SHIELD SUV Clint was riding in pulled up in front of Stark's mansion, the archer was seriously starting to believe that dealing with the Italian arms dealer's lackeys back at the warehouse was easier than dealing with SHIELD.

Clint had managed to position his quiver so it covered the wound in his shoulder before the two SUVs and one van pulled into the loading bay in the back of the bakery. Medics had practically leapt out of the van and moved over to Akers, while another quartet of agents had slid from the SUVs and had approached Clint, Napier and Lewis.

From there it had taken almost another fifteen minutes of the agents taking their reports of what had happened, Clint having to inconspicuously keep the back of his shoulder out of sight of the agents just in case, before he had finally been able to climb into the back seat of one of the SUVs, one of the four agents getting into the drivers' seat and peeling smoothly out of the loading bay.

He'd sat stiffly and silently for the entirety of the nearly 45 minute drive, not wanting to risk leaning back against the seat and leaving blood from his shoulder behind. His head still throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and fire lanced through his back and right arm at regular intervals.

His motions were slow and weary as he opened the mansion door, only to almost be instantly be greeting by JARVIS' voice informing him that the rest of the team was still in the kitchen/dining area. Before he could even get there, Steve and Bruce had walked out to meet him, both wearing concerned expressions as soon as they saw him. Clint didn't bother trying to hide his exhaustion and pain from them as he had the SHIELD agents, due mostly to a combination of knowing it wouldn't work, as well as that he didn't need to.

"How'd it go?" Steve asked quickly, looking over him critically, and easily taking the quiver that the archer offered to him.

"Oh, you know, the usual." the archer said with a one armed shrug, making Bruce frown as they made their way back to where the others were waiting.

"Clint, the usual for you would be collectively defined as disastrous for anyone else." Bruce pointed out, no form of doubt in his voice before his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the blood on the assassin's shoulder. "Don't tell me you got shot."

"I didn't." Clint assured quickly with a grimace, taking the chair offered to him at the table once they'd reached it. Thor, Tony and Pepper were already there waiting, and Clint wasn't surprised to not see Natasha. It'd probably take her longer to wrap everything up with SHIELD, he knew. "I got stabbed. Completely different."

There was a collective groan from everyone but Pepper, who gave a short gasp of worry.

"It's not serious." the archer continued quickly before either Steve or Bruce could start chewing him out. "But I would appreciate it if you could take a look at it for me Bruce."

The doctor gave an exasperated sigh but moved into the kitchen to wash his hands as Pepper quickly stood to find a first-aid kit.

It took a couple of agonizing minutes to get the archer out of the top half of his suit, sitting backwards in his chair with his arms crossed and braced on the table.

"Really, Legolas, you've got to stop coming back from missions injured. You are probably the single unluckiest person I have ever met." Tony said dryly, hiding his reaction to the bloody wound along with everyone else aside from Pepper who looked slightly pale.

"Or you can look at it the other way, in that I haven't actually been killed or permanently injured yet, which would actually imply that I am the single _luckiest_ person you have met." Clint countered, looking up at him with a smug smirk which just made Tony snort as Bruce approached.

"Touché, Featherhead." he said simply.

"Clint, this isn't a normal stab wound." Bruce protested slightly as he finally got a good look at the wound, his frown deepening as he did.

"Well no. That's what a stab wound from an arrow looks like." Clint said lightly, grinning at the shocked stares he got. "What? For this to be the first time this has happened in my eight years of running around with a bow and arrow, it's actually probably about time."

"_What_ happened?" Bruce demanded as a sigh, grabbing a wet cloth to start cleaning away the blood from the area.

"I got into a fight with six assholes, the last one got behind me and grabbed an arrow out of my quiver and stabbed me with it." Clint grimaced slightly, before his expression smoothed to hide his pain from Bruce's actions. "Luckily, I'd started turning around, so it didn't hit anywhere vitally important like was probably intended, but it did scratch pretty hard against the bone of my shoulder blade."

"And through a couple layers of muscle." Bruce muttered unhappily, taking a small step back to get a better look at it once he'd cleared the area of all the old blood. "Clint, this needs an actual medic. Despite what you all may like to think, I'm not actually a medical doctor."

"You're good enough at it." Clint snorted with a slight roll of his eyes, turning his head to look at Bruce over his good shoulder. "Look, there is an actual long and drawn out reason I can't go to SHIELD with this. Not that I would have gone anyway. So either you can do your best with it, which is probably up there with what an actual SHIELD medic would do anyway, or I can stitch it up, pour some antiseptic over it and pop some antibiotics."

"How have you lived this long?" Bruce muttered under his breath, which just caused Clint to huff a laugh.

"Phil was fond of forcing me into medical against my will. As well as keeping a fully stocked first-aid kit in my room. I've actually become quite adept at field medicine over the years."

"Forcing you into medical is starting to sound like a good idea." Steve pointed out under his breath from where he sat beside Thor more or less across from Clint, not reacting other than with a raised eyebrow to the glare that the archer tossed him.

"Seriously, I mean look at you." Tony added his two cents in with a vague wave of his hand. "You've got more scars than… You know what, I can't accurately finish that analogy. Just put me down as agreeing with Rogers."

Various sounds of amusement followed his words, while Clint just gave his head a slight shake, before he stiffened and hissed quietly when he felt Bruce poking around the injury. All hints of joking amusement died from all of their faces, and Bruce gave a wince of apology.

"Sorry, Clint, but I am going to have to stitch this. And I'd like to make sure that your shoulder blade isn't cracked or broken, but seeing as I don't have an x-ray machine handy…"

"I can tell you it's not broken." Clint said dryly, not relaxing in the slightest, even though he knew Bruce wasn't trying to hurt him.

"Thank you, that really eases my mind." Bruce responded lamely, before he looked up and gave Tony and Steve pointed looks as he pawed through the box of first-aid supplies for a suture kit. "If you had actually gone to a medic they would be able to give you all kinds of fun things to numb the area. As we've been through, I am not an actual medic, and I don't have those things."

"I know, Bruce." Clint responded wearily, forcing himself to relax, if only to make the muscles in the back of his right shoulder stop screaming at him for a few moments before Bruce started.

"So what's the with the whole 'super secrecy' thing over a stab wound?" Tony asked curiously from his seat, and Clint raised an eyebrow at his wording before he gave a one-armed shrug with his left shoulder before responding, just as he felt Bruce start to work on the injury again.

He completely ignored it, offering no indication of his pain on his face or in his voice, which made both Thor and Steve share an impressed glance.

"SHIELD has very strict protocol concerning extractions. If the agent doing the extracting ever believes themselves compromised or in danger, or that they don't think a safe extraction is possible, the protocol says that it is then that agent's responsibility to instead eliminate the compromised agent they were sent in to save and bug out before they can be injured, killed or captured themselves." Clint explained, giving a strained smirk to the shocked stares he was receiving.

"From a strategic standpoint, I can understand the logic… but in implication, that's just ridiculous." Steve said shortly, his eyes having narrowed, and Clint gave a snort, before letting out a deep breath as he felt the needle Bruce was using bite into the already sensitive skin around the wound.

"Yeah, well, that's SHIELD." the archer said tonelessly. "I'd be dead a couple times over if Phil stuck to that protocol, but he never did, and neither do I. Fury knows that, and the Council hates me for it. They haven't sent me on an extraction in years for that reason. You'd think that they'd be happy I was actually willing to get the other agents out of shit situations even if I was threatened, but no. God forbid you break protocol."

"So you didn't want them to know about the injury so they wouldn't know that you broke protocol. That you got the other agents out despite the situation." Steve said, understanding coloring his tone and Clint gave him a small nod.

"Exactly. They can't prove what happened in there aside from the reports. And Napier and the others aren't going to rat me out for saving their asses. If I can avoid trouble with the Council, I will be infinitely happier." the archer told them, and Bruce snorted slightly from where he still stood behind him, finishing up the sutures on his injury.

"If Fury finds out you lied, he's going to be rather angry." the doctor pointed out mildly, but Clint just smirked.

"Please. The only reason Fury sent me tonight was because he didn't want protocol followed. I've been with SHIELD seven years, and I know that he can and will work the system if he thinks it's necessary. He could have easily switched mine and Tasha's missions tonight, but he sent me on the extraction knowing my track record. We have an understanding for this one, and I'm fine with taking the heat for it if need be." he explained wryly, unnoticeably relaxing ever so slightly when he felt Bruce finally tie off the stitches.

Tony gave his head a slow shake at his words, making Clint's smirk widen. Before anyone could comment, JARVIS' voice came from above them, just as there was the sound of the front door opening.

'_Sir, Colonel Rhodes has arrived.'_ the AI informed them, just moments before the man in question walked into the room, pausing at the scene in front of him.

"Oh, hey Rhodey." Tony greeted lamely, a slight smirk forming on his face. "What's up?"

"We got reports of explosions from a warehouse downtown." the newly arrived man said slowly, staring at where Bruce was snipping off the extra thread from the end of the stitches and gently wiping down the wound with antiseptic. "Then we got the orders to back down and forget about it. Can you blame me for thinking you were somehow involved?"

"Well, no, but this time, I wasn't the one blowing stuff up." Tony said, sounding proud of the fact, which just made the rest of the occupants of the room give snorts of amusement.

"Trust me, it's better just to go with it. You _really_ don't want to know." Clint said empathetically from where he was still leaning on his arms, not bothering to try to turn around while Bruce was working.

"Uh huh. You alright?" Rhodey asked, and Clint huffed a short laugh.

"Just peachy." Clint retorted with ease, wincing slightly as the doctor behind him pressed a gauze pad to the newly stitched injury before he began bandaging the area tightly. "Speaking of blowing stuff up, that quiver worked like a dream. You guys are awesome."

"Of course it did. I was directly involved." Tony said as if it was obvious, while Bruce just gave a small smile and responded.

"Thank you." he said sincerely, frowning when he noticed the large bump and bruise on the back of his friend's head, now that he wasn't preoccupied with the gaping, bloody hole in the back of his shoulder. "That's quite the goose egg."

"That's what happens when a piece of debris from this explosion everyone keeps mentioning about this big slams into the back of my head." Clint said dryly, slowly sitting up straight and holding his hands about six inches apart.

"My friend, I am beginning to agree with the Captain and Man of Iron." Thor said doubtfully, which just made Tony gave a triumphant smirk.

"I think we have the majority, Featherhead." he said smugly, put Clint just cast him a challenging glance as Bruce lightly swatted his left arm.

"Don't move your shoulder, you idiot. If I thought I could keep you in it, I'd put you in a sling." Bruce said unhappily, and Clint just cast an amused glance at the doctor, before the man huffed and gently felt the area around the lump on the back of his head.

"So the explosions were you." Rhodey deduced, but Clint just cast a level look at him, allowing Bruce to continue, though he was slightly exasperated.

"I plead the Fifth." he said tonelessly, frowning at the way the man was watching Bruce's actions warily, before almost instantly responding to the confused tilt to Thor's head. "It's a figure of speech, referring to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; the right against self-incrimination."

The demi-god gave a grateful nod to the explanation, while Rhodey just crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do you have a concussion?" Bruce asked quickly, and Clint gave a slight shrug.

"I don't think so. Maybe a mild one at worst." he said dismissively, but Bruce didn't look convinced, turning Clint's chair slightly and moving to stand in front of him.

"Full name?" he prompted, causing the archer to give a disbelieving groan, while Tony just sniggered.

"Bruce, I just gave a completely coherent explanation of SHIELD protocol and the Fifth Amendment." he protested, only to scowl when the doctor's expression didn't change. "Clinton Francis 'Hawkeye' Barton. Happy?"

"Francis." Tony chuckled, not at all fazed by the heated glare being sent his way.

"Date of birth?" Bruce continued, while Clint adopted an almost pleading expression.

"Are we seriously doing this?" he demanded, beginning to entertain the idea of giving them the same outburst he'd given Napier. He just wanted to lay his head down and rest his eyes until Natasha got back. Was it too much to ask?

"Last one." Bruce acquiesced, and Clint gave a long, drawn out sigh before responding.

"March 18, 1987."

"Thank you." Bruce said simply, before accepting the ice pack wrapped in a dish towel that Pepper offered him, having gone into the kitchen to retrieve it as soon as the bump on Clint's head had been mentioned. The doctor then lightly pressed it to the back of the archer's head, making him stiffen slightly, before he relaxed and moved to hold the object in place himself with his left hand.

"I'm not a two-year old, I know how to handle myself." Clint responded shortly, making Bruce blink at him in surprise before sharing a glance with Steve.

"Clint, we just want to make sure you're alright." Steve said gently, making Clint give a slight sigh but rest his left elbow on the table to lean on. "Can you blame us?"

Clint closed his eyes, not responding for the moment. No, he couldn't blame them, but he wasn't used to having so many people mother-henning him either. For a long time no one had. Then it had been Coulson, and then Natasha's subtle prodding. Now there were currently five people, six if you counted Rhodes, hovering over him and trying to coerce him into medical treatment. If he didn't get them to back off, at least somewhat, he was going to go insane.

"Just… tone it down a bit, alright?" Clint offered, smirking slightly to himself when he felt Bruce take an almost immediate step back, moving instead to take a seat on his right.

"So when can we expect our resident crazy Russian back?" Tony questioned after a few moments of silence, Rhodey moving to take a seat as well, beside the billionaire.

"Depends." Clint grunted, not opening his eyes or looking up. "She was finished before I was, but her target was live, and that involves a lot of paper work and procedure after the fact. Another hour or two, maybe."

Finally, Clint blinked his eyes open and removed the ice pack from the back of his head before standing slowly.

"I'll be right back, I'm just going to go get changed out of this." he explained quickly before Bruce could form words to the disapproval of his actions that sparked in his eyes. He grabbed his bow and quiver that Steve had set aside before he made for his room, trying to blink back the muddled haziness that had descended over his mind from exhaustion, pain, and the blow to his head.

Once back in his room, he carefully put all of his weapons away before extracting himself from the rest of his suit and instead donning sweat pants and a plain gray hoodie. Considering the blood he'd lost, he wasn't surprised that he was colder than he'd usually be. As he made to leave his room again, he cast one longing look at his bed before he shook himself and continued out. He wanted to at least try to wait up until Tasha got back. Whether or not he'd actually manage to do so was still debatable, but he was going to at least attempt. He was slightly surprised to see everyone still at the table when he returned, but didn't spend too much time wondering about that.

They'd waited for him, they'd wait to see that Natasha was home safe as well.

Their eyes turned to him, however, as he eased himself back into his seat and grabbed up the ice pack he'd set aside and returned it to the lump on the back of his head. He gave a slight smile when he saw a plate complete with a couple sandwiches, a Gatorade and a bottle of antibiotics.

"So what, I leave and you end up with sandwiches?" he asked, carefully reaching forward for one with his injured arm, seeing as the uninjured one was currently supporting the ice pack on the back of his head.

"Pretty much. Yeah." Tony said simply, looking around to see everyone else giving amused nods of agreement.

"How did you survive before we moved in?" Clint asked with a slight shake of his head, to which Rhodey snorted. The archer looked to him quickly, almost surprised he was still there.

"That kitchen was pretty much there for show." the Colonel said matter of factly finally turning his gaze away from Bruce, making Tony just stick out his tongue at him.

Clint managed to down one of the sandwiches and some antibiotics before he laid his head down on the table and tried desperately not to sleep. He realized it wasn't working when he felt someone taking the ice pack that was slowly slipping off his head.

"Get some rest, Clint. We'll make sure she's alright when she gets back." he heard Steve's reassuring voice faintly before he gave a slight sigh and allowed himself to fall into sleep, his exhaustion winning out over his uncomfortable position.

* * *

Natasha gave a long sigh as she pulled Tony's car to a stop outside the mansion, almost getting out before she'd taken the keys out of the ignition. Fury had told her that Clint had already successfully completed his mission, which lent itself towards the explosions she'd heard as she walked away with a knife wrapped around the throat of her target, who was compliant through fear. Due to the rushed nature of the mission, she hadn't initially been aware of _why_ exactly SHIELD was so insistent on wanting this particular arms dealer alive. After, however, and she had taken the time to read his file while waiting for the man to be processed into SHIELD custody.

The man had ties with a lot of different organizations around the world that the agency had eyes on including, she was slightly surprised to see, the Avengers' friends in what Tony called their mutant-loving terrorist cell. Looking over that list of affiliates, she certainly understood why SHIELD wanted him alive; information from him could further a list of SHIELD operations.

But at the same time, she was reminded of why she preferred taking out her targets as opposed to bringing them in. The amount of paperwork involved with a live target tried on even her patience.

She shook herself of the thought as she walked quickly into the mansion, hearing JARVIS' greeting but mostly ignoring it, following the hushed voices she heard to the kitchen and dining area, flicking her eyes over the room's occupants once she entered. Rhodey's presence was slightly odd, especially seeing as it was getting close to midnight, but what caused worry to flash in her eyes was the sight of Clint passed out on the table, the right shoulder of his hoodie bulging slightly as if it was covering bandages. And with the current temperature in the mansion, the only reason Clint would be wearing the sweatshirt, would be if she had lost blood.

"What happened?" she demanded quietly, her eyes flashing to Bruce, seeing as he would have been the only one Clint would have let see to an injury. Despite her worry, she kept her voice down, not wanting to wake him.

"By what he's told us, he got into a six to one fight, which I wish I could say was a little more unusual." Bruce said, a slight edge of exasperation to his voice as he glanced down to the archer with a slightly raised eyebrow. "One of them got behind him, grabbed an arrow, and stabbed him with it. Nothing debilitating." the doctor held up a quick hand to calm the wordless panic he saw flash in her gaze. "He's going to be fine. It impacted his shoulder blade but not the joint; tore through some muscle before it hit bone. There wasn't considerable force behind it, I don't think, and it scratched the shoulder blade, but that's it. Painful, but it should heal pretty quickly, especially by his standards. I cleaned it out, stitched it up and bandaged it. He has a _very_ mild concussion from a bump to the back of the head, and a good sized lump, but other than that he's… his normal self. Maybe a little irritated."

Natasha gave one short nod, glancing over her partner, before she relaxed and repeated the action, looking to Bruce.

"Thank you." she told him, but Bruce just rolled his eyes and gave a slight smile.

"What about you? How'd it go?" Tony asked, leaning back in his chair and giving her a quick glance that she almost took to be concern.

"Fine, a couple bruises." Natasha gave a slight shrug of indifference, walking forward and laying her weapons on the table before she took a seat to Clint's left. "I could use some food though. What'd you guys get?"

"Sandwiches." Tony said lightly, gesturing to the plate that was still more or less in front of Clint, two untouched sandwiches on it. She reached forward silently and grabbed one.

She smirked but wasn't surprised when Clint's hand instantly moved to catch her wrist from where his arms were folded beneath his head, the rest of him stirring slightly a few moments later, his head raising slowly.

"Tasha." he muttered, sleep clearing out of his eyes with one blink as he turned to look at her.

"I still don't see how they can do that." Tony muttered, probably to either Steve or Rhodey. "I mean, he was dead-ass asleep. Has been for two hours. Then boom, she gets within a foot and he knows exactly where she is. She's done the same thing. I just… I don't get it. There's something wrong there."

Both assassins ignored him, each confirming that the other was alright with one pointed look, Natasha letting some heat enter her eyes when she tossed a quick glance to his shoulder.

"Totally not my fault." he protested, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position with a wince invisible to anyone but her.

"That's what you said in Oslo." she said skeptically, making Clint huff a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah? Well it was no better than what you claimed having no part of in Zagreb." he reminded, his tone taking on a teasing edge, the rest of the team forgotten.

"Munich." she retorted, eyes narrowing slightly as she pulled her wrist from his grip and sat back.

"Mexico City."

"Cape Town."

"Dubai."

"Budapest."

"Like _hell_ you are pinning that clusterfuck on me." Clint protested quickly, looking up when Bruce spoke.

"My God, they can communicate in cities." the doctor said easily, his tone teasing.

"It's kind of getting old. First the 'we can read each other's souls' eye thing. Now there's the 'we throw around the names of cities like it's supposed to mean something earth-shattering' thing." Tony said, sounding annoyed, even if there was a distinct spark of amusement in his eyes.

"Munich was pretty earth-shattering." Clint pointed out, looking to Tony who just scowled.

"There was that whole crater incident." Natasha agreed thoughtfully, finally taking a bite of the sandwich she'd grabbed as he pointed a quick finger at her.

"Which was _not_ my fault."

She simply raised an eyebrow, making him roll his eyes and grab the now pretty much melted ice pack that had been set to the side when he had fallen asleep.

"Right, are we good now? Cause if we're good now, I'm going to go to bed before ole' Nick can call me too." Tony said matter of factly, standing as he looked over both assassins.

"We're good." Clint assured him after a quick shared glance with Natasha.

"Fantastic." the billionaire said lightly, offering a hand down to Pepper when he reached her seat, the two making towards their room, before he turned back after a few steps. "Oh, and Rhodey, I'd almost forgotten you were there. We promise to let you know if we're going to be blowing stuff up in the future alright?"

"Alright." the Colonel stood as well with a slight snort, nodding to the rest of the Avengers, before he looked to Clint in particular.

"Be careful with that shoulder."

"I will. Thanks." the archer nodded, watching as he too made to leave.

"Friends, I bid you a good night as well." Thor spoke up, making all heads turn to him as he stood.

"I think that's where we're all headed, pretty much." Steve said knowingly, before casting his own glance to Clint. "At least _try_ to take it easy?"

"Promise." Clint agreed as he too stood. "I'm going to hit a shower first, though. Bandage me back up when I'm done?" he tossed his question to Natasha, who nodded.

"Моя комната или твое?" (My room or yours?) she asked, making him smirk.

"Шахта имеет лучшее представление." (Mine has a better view.) he responded easily, nodding to Bruce, Steve and Thor. "Thanks guys, and goodnight."

They responded in kind, and Clint walked towards his room, bee-lining for the shower. It took him ten minutes to remove the bandages on his shoulder while trying not to move it before he could even get in, taking a quick, hot one once he did. Once clean and dry, he pulled back on his sweatpants before walking into his room, unsurprised to see Natasha waiting with fresh bandages, her hair damp as if from her own shower.

They didn't speak as she inspected the stitched wound for herself, before wrapping it almost exactly as Bruce had, and just as tight.

"I'm taking it that they got out alright then?" she asked as they laid down and turned out the lights, Clint laying on his left side so he didn't put any pressure on his injury.

"Akers needed medical, but overall they weren't as bad as they could have been." the archer told her truthfully, leaning back into her with a slight sigh as she wrapped one arm around his waist and used the other to run her fingers through his hair. "I called Fury on sending me though. Told him I'd still take the heat if need be."

"Clint, you don't need any more trouble with the Council. They don't like any of us, and haven't liked you from the beginning." Natasha protested with a frown, but he just snorted.

"If they haven't fired or killed me by now, I highly doubt this will make them. Especially since they have no proof I broke protocol." the archer said wisely, and Natasha's eyes widened slightly in realization.

"So that's why you didn't let SHIELD medics look at your shoulder."

"What'd you expect the reason was?" he asked curiously, and she leaned her head down and closed her eyes.

"That you were being a stubborn fool as always." she responded truthfully.

Clint snorted again but didn't protest her words, both falling into sleep within minutes.

* * *

**And there we have it. Hope you enjoyed it and please tell me what you think. Next chapter should be up in a few days.  
~Dogstar**


	6. Chapter 6

**Greetings everyone and welcome back for chapter 6. We're moving steadily along here, and I'm still guesstimating the length of this story to be near the higher end of the range of 10-15 chapters total. Which would mean that this is nearing the half-way mark. Whoo! Thanks to all of you readers, you undoubtedly know how awesome you are, especially those of you who have stuck with me through my other stories as well.**

**Right so in this chapter we finally get away from Clint for a bit in the second half, which is shocking to me, personally. We get some Steve. Which is good, because I like Steve and I haven't shoved him into the spotlight in this story very much, so here's some of that.**

**I hope you enjoy it, and fair warning, you may need a tissue or two. The angst level in this chapter rose exponentially. Don't ask me how that happened.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

Clint sighed as he stopped in front of the briefing room Fury typically used for meetings with the Council. It had just been last night that he'd actually gone in for the extraction of Napier, Akers and Lewis, and already the Council was demanding to speak with him to discuss his actions. Fury had actually sounded apologetic when he had called, but that didn't serve to lighten the archer's mood at all. Natasha hadn't exactly been happy about it either, but they both knew that the Council wasn't a group to be played with. They had power, even over Fury's head if they really pushed, so it was best to just get the meeting out of the way and done with.

So, despite the fact that his shoulder was definitely feeling like it had been stabbed, he'd gotten on the helicopter Fury had sent to pick him up without complaint, and ignoring Tony's playful shout that at least he wasn't taking his quiver with him that time. He had, however, smirked at the sound of someone, probably either Natasha or Pepper smacking him in response.

Currently, he just pushed the door open at Fury's call to enter, smoothing his expression into a blank, emotionless indifference as he did. He walked over to stand slightly behind Fury to the man's left, in front of the wall-sized screen that was currently displaying the faces of the four Council members.

'_Agent Barton, we were wondering if you could walk us through what happened last night during your mission.'_ the older man that was probably the American delegate said sharply, cutting straight to the point of why he was there. One thing Clint couldn't accuse them of was beating around the bush.

"I gave my report sir, as did Agents Napier and Lewis." Clint responded smoothly, not at all wanting to just roll over and make it easy on them. They'd probably know something was up if he did.

'_We're aware of the reports, Agent, but given your track record we just wanted to affirm what went on.'_ the only woman on the Council spoke up then, and Clint turned his eyes to her but gave no other facial reaction to her words.

"By my track record, you mean the fact that I prefer to bring home live agents as opposed to dead ones." he said tonelessly, giving no response to the scowls that formed on a few faces before he continued. "Unless you are accusing all of us of lying in our reports, Councilmen, all due respect but I don't see why I'm here."

'_Agent Barton, could you just walk us through your mission.'_ the Russian looking man spoke up crossly, and Clint glanced to him as well before speaking.

Clint did so, using the subtlest condescending tone he could manage. He recited almost exactly word for word what was in his report; that he found Napier in the process of being water boarded, that he used explosive arrows on the hallway and subsequent men pursuing them before they got up to the roof and grappled to an adjoining building without encountering any problems.

Even so, they continued to ask question after question, all pretty much trying to make him admit he'd broken protocol. One thing he'd always been alright at, and then perfected with Natasha's help, however, was weaving his way through a conversation and admitting nothing. The entire time, his expression and tone of voice were unchanging and he could see at least the older white-haired man was looking frustrated. The others were either too good at hiding it, or they just honestly didn't care. Clint was leaning towards the first one.

By the time they were done, even Fury was wearing a smug smirk as he shut down the call before waving Clint out of the room. The archer followed easily, flanking him on the right and listening as he spoke.

"I knew you'd pick up on what I was doing, Barton, but did you have to advertise it in front of three of my other agents?" the SHIELD director demanded quietly as they walked, making Clint give a tight smirk.

"Sorry, sir." he said simply, not at all looking or feeling it, making Fury give an aggravated huff as he turned a corner, making Clint frown. "Why are we headed to the medical wing?"

"Because Napier, Akers and Lewis asked to speak with you when I got you back on base." the older man informed him shortly, and Clint didn't acknowledge the words in any way, choosing to simply follow for a few moments before he voiced a question.

"Akers' condition?"

"Stable now. He needed a blood transfusion and a heavy dose of very strong antibiotics, but he'll live." Fury informed him matter of factly and Clint nodded acceptance.

In only a few moments they were stopping outside an infirmary room door that was propped open, Fury pausing outside and gesturing Clint in. The archer gave him a slight, withering glare before he rapped twice on the metal door before stepping inside, not surprised by what he saw.

Akers was in the room's bed, looking conscious but barely. Napier and Lewis were seated on his either side, both looking weary, though Napier's shirt bulged as if covering bandages that wound around his torso. Considering Clint remembered something about broken ribs from the man, that wasn't surprising.

All three pairs of eyes shot to him as he entered, both Napier and Lewis straightening in their seats.

"Hawkeye." Napier greeted with a slight nod, a small frown forming on his face.

Clint gave a slight blink and paused only a few steps inside the doorway, shocked at the older man's greeting. Napier had never _once_ called him 'Hawkeye'. That was a level of respect and recognition that he'd never received from him before, and the fact that he was getting it now was honestly amusing.

"Oh, so I'm Hawkeye now?" he asked, raising a challenging eyebrow. Now that they weren't involved in a life or death situation, he would allow himself to be a little less accepting of three of the men that had beaten him into unconsciousness more than once. "How are the ribs? Hurt like a bitch, don't they?"

Napier had the decency to give a guilty wince at that, while both Lewis and Akers shared uneasy, almost ashamed glances.

"You're not going to just let me get out a thank you and be done with it, are you?" Napier asked sounding unsurprised but somewhat resigned, and Clint just crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the pull and pain from his stitches and shoulder.

"No." Clint said truthfully, his eyes narrowing. "What, _I_ save _your_ asses, and we get all chummy? Before last night, you hadn't said one word to me since holding a knife to my throat. You and your little group spent weeks hunting me down and beating me to hell, Napier. I had enough guilt for myself without you bastards drilling it in to me."

"What do you want, Barton, an apology?" Napier asked shortly, but there was a distinct lack of anger or aggravation in his voice. Clint just scoffed disbelievingly.

"Hell no, because you wouldn't even have entertained the idea without what happened last night." he said, not an ounce of doubt in his voice, and not one of the three made to disagree with him.

"So then why even do it?" Napier demanded after a few moments of tense silence, standing and moving a few steps closer to Clint, who didn't so much as twitch. "Why go through the trouble of breaking protocol, getting stabbed in the shoulder and getting us out of there?"

"First off, I just spent an hour getting reamed by the Council and telling them that I _didn't_ break protocol, so I'd appreciate it if you kept your damn voice down." Clint said in a low voice, an almost dangerous tone entering it. He _knew_ Fury was still waiting outside the door. "And secondly, because I had a mission, and I wasn't going to let a personal issue get in the way of that."

There was silence for a few long moments, Clint stubbornly holding Napier's gaze before he flicked his eyes to the other two agents in the room and spoke again.

"You're welcome. But I don't want to listen to it." he said coolly before turning and leaving the infirmary room without another word, only to almost instantly catch Fury's glare, which made him give a silent, aggravated sigh.

"You're injured?" the SHIELD director demanded quietly as they walked away, this time Clint leading as he made for the airstrip.

"Do I look injured to you, sir?" he retorted tonelessly, which just made Fury scowl.

"Barton, I wouldn't be able to tell unless it was something life threatening." he pointed out, clearly unhappy, and the archer snorted, knowing the man was speaking from experience. He cast a quick look to his right to him as he continued, trying a different tactic. "Is it anything I need to keep your name off of possible missions for?"

For a few beats Clint didn't respond, quickly considering the injury and how long it would take to heal before he could fire his bow with his typical speed and precision without the possibility of the muscles giving out on him. He didn't really like admitting _anything_ to Fury, but he didn't like the possibility of messing up on a mission more.

"Not for more than a week."

Fury nodded to that and walked the rest of the way to the helicopter with him, stopping him before he could actually get into the vehicle and handing him one of the files he'd been carrying since they'd left the Council meeting.

"This is for Captain Rogers. See that he gets it." the director said matter of factly and Clint nodded, taking it easily.

"Yes, sir." he responded as he climbed into the helicopter and quickly informed the pilot he was ready to go.

During the flight, he looked down at the file in curiosity, wondering why Fury wanted Steve to have what looked like his own file, but he respected the Captain's privacy and didn't open it. Back at Stark's mansion, he passed the file onto a bemused Steve before practically leaping onto the back of a couch and joining the video game match Tony had started between him and Thor with a smirk.

* * *

Much later that night, Tony was in the middle of pouring two cups of coffee and grabbing a few slices of cold pizza for him and Bruce when JARVIS' voice interrupted him.

'_Sir, I might advise checking on Captain Rogers in the training room before you go back down to the lab.' _the AI said, managing a tone that Tony recognized to mean he was concerned.

"What's the matter, he finally agree to go up against Romanoff?" Tony asked with a snort, only to pause slightly when JARVIS continued.

'_No sir, Agent Romanoff is currently on the roof with Agent Barton. Captain Rogers has gone through half of the mansions stock of punching bags in the past hour, and I believe something may be bothering him.'_

The billionaire did give a slow blink at that, before his eyes narrowed.

"JARVIS, there were like fifty punching bags in the storage closet." he pointed out, and the AI adopted a more exasperated tone.

'_Yes, sir, there were.'_ he agreed, and unbidden a small frown formed on Tony's face as concern bubbled up in him.

Even for Rogers, twenty-five punching bags in an hour was a little extreme. Not that he cared of course; it was none of his business if the Captain was having a bad night. They all had them occasionally.

But despite that reasoning in mind, Tony still felt his feet direct him towards the gym, and only moments later he was lightly pushing the door open, his eyes widening at the sight of what could very well be a pile of twenty-five destroyed punching bags and the sand that used to be in them beneath the high windows of the room. Steve was situated a few feet in front of the pile, his back to Tony as he laid into another punching bag that was hanging in front of him. He was sweating, out of breath, and his T-shirt was all but sticking to him.

"Looks like you needed one hell of a workout." Tony spoke up conversationally, smoothing his expression and raising one eyebrow as Steve spun to face him, startled by his presence. "I mean really. There's no way glorified sand bags could have pissed you off that badly."

The other man's eyes darkened, and Tony half considered taking a few steps back towards the door again with the intensity of that look, but stopped himself as Steve turned back to the bag hanging in front of him.

"I'm not in the mood, Stark." he said tersely, but Tony just slowly approached, almost wary, but hiding it well.

"What's the matter?" the billionaire pressed over the sound of the Captain's fists against the canvas bag, the chain holding it up creaking in protest.

"Why do you care?" Steve retorted as a grunt, and Tony frowned, still not completely sure what had drawn him to follow JARVIS' advice in the first place.

"Not much gets under your star-spangled spandex, Capsicle." he said pointedly, his frown deepening when Steve flinched at his words, and his next blow sent the abused bag flying back into the others.

Without a word, the Captain turned to grab another, but Tony just quickly cleared the space between them and grabbed the other man's shoulder.

"Steve. What the hell?" the billionaire asked firmly, eyes narrowed into concern.

Steve's eyes flashed and he stiffened defensively, jerking his shoulder out of Tony's grip but relaxing slightly when he met the other man's gaze.

"I was looking through the file Clint brought back for me from Fury. I found this." he admitted gruffly, carefully moving to pick up a sheet of paper that had been set to the side on a chair and handing it to Tony. He then proceeded to lift up another punching bag.

Tony raised an eyebrow but looked down to the paper, eyes widening when he recognized the handwriting. He almost didn't want to read what was written, knowing that it had only ever been meant for one pair of eyes, and it certainly wasn't his. He did, after all, have some semblance of a respect for privacy.

But, on the other hand, the Captain _had_ given it to him, and without reading it, he had absolutely no idea what to say. So he did.

_Steve,_

_I waited for hours, until well after closing, praying that you would walk through the door with that triumphant smirk on your face and apologizing for being late like you did after Austria. And even though you didn't then, I never gave up hope. It's been almost seventy years now, I'm over ninety years old and I'm staring down at you who hasn't aged a day._

_I was the first one Nick Fury called after they found you in the ice, but for weeks I couldn't work up the courage to come in. Then I realized, if our situations had been reversed, you would have been at my side without a thought, so here I am. You're not awake yet, and they aren't sure when, or if, you ever will. But I know you Captain, so I know it won't be long._

_The world has changed a lot, and I know you're going to have countless new things to get used to. Trust me when I say that not everything is as complicated as it looks. I'm really the only one left, and I know now that I was waiting until I could see you again. You should know that I went to all of their funerals in your stead, as I know you would have wanted to be there._

_I never did find another dance partner. Many people told me that I wasn't doing myself any favors by waiting for the dead. I would have preferred to be able to shoot at them, much as I did at you once._

_You should also know that Howard tried everything to find you sooner. He did, in fact find the cube that Hydra used as its secret weapon. But as time passed, and his searches yielded nothing, he gave up and lost the hope that I held on to. He became a different man, more driven than ever to never fail at anything again. It was his family that suffered from it._

_You'll meet Tony Stark, I'm sure, and it won't take you long to understand that he is not his father. And really, I don't recommend bringing Howard up. The boy is about as stubborn as you, if not more so, and he won't want to talk about his father at all, much less with you. You will see the similarities though, especially in that genius of his. He's become a super hero in his own right, but the walls he puts up around himself won't let him see all the good he does. Don't let that cocky attitude fool you; think of how Bucky acted after you saved him from the Hydra base in Austria. The boy doesn't think he's good enough for anything. And once you've gotten past those walls, which I know very well you will be able to do, I think you'll be able to give him what Howard never did: someone he can make proud; a mentor of sorts and a confidant. And he sorely needs it, not that he'll be in any way accepting of it at first. _

_I recommended both you and Tony for Nick's 'Avengers Initiative'. You'll need a team to help you through this mess, and I'm completely certain you can lead just about anyone, including this group Nick is putting together. It won't be the same as the Commandos, but they will keep you grounded; give you new purpose. And yes, Captain, I am aware that you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself._

_I'm not planning on seeing you wake up. It's selfish of me, I know, but seeing me old and frail as I am now won't do you any good. It's better for you to grieve for all of us at once, than to get me back for a short time only to lose me again. I couldn't do that to you, Steve, not on top of everything else. You'll channel your grief into a focus that will undoubtedly save the world someday._

_And since I plan on waiting a very long time before having to see you in whatever comes next, I'll be a little lenient with your compulsive lateness. Then, maybe, we can finally have that dance._

_Forever yours,  
Peggy _

Tony stared at the letter for a long time after he actually finished reading it, at a complete and utter loss of words for the first time in his life. He tried to imagine himself in Steve's shoes, with Pepper in Peggy Carter's, and found that he simply couldn't comprehend it.

"Steve… I'm sorry." he said eventually, his voice quiet and sincere as he looked back up to the Captain in time to see him pause and sigh, lightly resting his forehead on the punching bag in front of him.

"She practically gave me a manual on how to handle you. It's a shame I didn't get it sooner." he said shortly, his voice gruff as he clearly tried not to fall to pieces.

Tony was completely aware that this was probably the last place on earth he wanted to be, neck deep in this emotional vat of a conversation, but how the hell was he supposed to leave Steve looking as broken as he did now?

"You didn't do half bad on your own." the billionaire pointed out quickly, running a hand through his hair, and gently returning the letter to its former spot on the chair.

"You knew her?" Steve asked quietly after a few moments of silence, his breathing slowly returning to a more relaxed pace.

"God, yes." Tony found himself giving an easy, fond smile to the question. "She was like the spit-fire aunt you never wanted to piss off. We lost contact more than I would have liked after my parents died." he explained as he took a seat on the edge of the boxing ring for lack of anything else to do. "One hell of a woman."

"Don't I know it." Steve gave a dry chuckle, practically falling to sit beside Tony. "I loved her."

"Kinda figured." Tony nodded slightly with half a smirk

"Did you know…?" Steve trailed off, nodding to the letter and Tony shifted slightly.

"That she sat with you while you were defrosting? Yes. Every day for almost three weeks. I drove her once or twice when I had business with SHIELD." the billionaire nodded himself, before frowning. "But I didn't know about that letter, I swear. It wouldn't have taken you over six months to get it if I had."

Truth be told, he was pissed that Fury had neglected to give it to the super soldier for so long. He would be having words with the director. Very loud and angry words.

Because Captain America wasn't supposed to look like the devastated and broken man sitting beside him.

"How long before I woke up did she…" Steve trailed off again, his voice giving a very subtle shake, but luckily, Tony didn't need him to finish his question.

"Three days." he said quietly, lowering his gaze at Steve's violent flinch, unused to the emotions crashing through him. It wasn't often that something like this got to him. Maybe in this case it was the fact that while he had gotten the opportunity to spend thirty-odd years with Peggy Carter, Steve had had less than five.

"It was in her sleep; painless. I… I can show you where she's buried when we get back to New York." Tony spoke again after a few long moments of silence.

Steve gave a quick, wordless nod, burying the wrapped heels of his palms into his eyes and resting his elbows on his knees.

"I miss all of them, Tony." he admitted thickly a few moments later.

"I know." the billionaire said lamely, unable to think of anything of a more smart-assed nature to add. As far as he knew, this was the first time the Captain had broken down about his lost life in the 40's, and he hated that he couldn't think of anything better to say to comfort the man beside him. Because despite the playful resentment, and countless arguments he and Steve had, he _did_ respect him; probably more than the super soldier realized. "The rest of us; me, Bruce, Thor, Barton and Romanoff; I know we'll never be the Howling Commandos, and we'll never replace anyone else you lost, but..." he trailed off extremely relieved when Steve picked up his head and gave him a small, grateful smile.

"Thanks, Tony." he said quietly, marveling at how right Peggy had turned out to be about the man beside him. Not that he expected anything less. He sighed again, however, and continued. "You know, I don't even know what happened to them. I tried to search on the computer, but I never really found anything."

"I can take care of that." Tony said quickly with a single short nod, glad to be able to help somehow, which was somewhat surprising. They were silent for a few more moments before the billionaire gave a slight sigh and stood. "Well, I'll let you get back to your workout. Don't worry about the mess, I'll get someone in here tomorrow to clean it up."

"No, I'll get it." Steve stood as well with a slight frown as his gaze found the pile of obliterated punching bags against the wall. "I think I've depleted the supply enough for one night."

"Maybe that's what me and Bruce will work on next…" Tony mused, giving the Captain a nod as he left the gym, and returned to the kitchen.

He dumped out the old coffee and had JARVIS start a new pot, although this time, he only poured one cup, and that was for Bruce. He took it down to the doctor before explaining that he was going to bed and ignoring the slightly suspicious glance that announcement earned him. He gave a slight smile when he slipped noiselessly into his bedroom and saw Pepper curled up already asleep on her side.

Barely thinking about it, Tony crawled under the covers with her before carefully wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"Tony?" she questioned sleepily, and the billionaire just tightened his grip slightly as she took his hand in hers.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up." he murmured, leaning his head down onto her shoulder. After seeing what Steve was going through, the only thing he wanted to do was hold Pepper and not let her go. Which was probably selfish of him, seeing as the Captain would never get the chance to do the same.

"What's wrong?" Pepper asked, awake enough to hear his tone and be worried about it, turning in his arms to face him and letting the muted glow from the arc reactor light their faces.

Tony gave a slight sigh before quietly relaying the conversation he'd had with the Captain, not sure what else to do. Pepper had had the opportunity to meet Peggy Carter at least once or twice he was sure. By the time he finished speaking, Pepper was gripping his hand tightly, not that he could find it in him to mind at the moment.

"Poor Steve." she murmured, giving her head a slight shake and meeting Tony's gaze. "I couldn't imagine…" she trailed off, burying her head into his shoulder, and he just gave a quiet snort, hugging her tightly to him.

"Me either." he agreed.

* * *

**It's a little shorter than I would have liked, but I think it gets the point across. Sorry if my Peggy is a little out of character, we don't get very much to work with with her, after all. So, tell me what you think in a review if you would like to, it would be greatly appreciated.  
~Dogstar**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm going to start off by saying I am _extremely_ sorry this chapter took so long. The chapter and I have a deep rooted, mutual hatred of one another, but thankfully I managed a compromise with it to get this out. I had to rework it three times to get it somewhat where I wanted it, so I apologize for that.**

**But, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and alerted this story, I hope you all continue to enjoy it as much as you have seemed to already.**

**So without further ado, here is the remarkably late chapter.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

Nobody was quite sure who was more surprised when three days later, Tony showed up at the breakfast table in swim shorts and a tank top, sunglasses sitting on top of his head.

"Today, my friends, is a beach day." he announced loudly, causing Thor to adopt an almost confused expression, while Natasha just raised an eyebrow.

"It's the middle of November, Stark." she pointed out dryly from where she sat on the far side of the table, mug of coffee in her hands.

"I have two responses to that." Tony said, turning to face her with a smug expression while the rest of the team just watched, waiting to hear what he was going to say. "One: It's also southern California, sweetheart, not New York. Two: I'm an eccentric billionaire. I do what I want."

"Well I can't see how we can argue with _that_ logic." Bruce said, sarcasm gracing his voice that made Tony turn to face him next, looking mildly insulted.

"What, is it 'gang up on Tony' day and I just didn't get the memo?" he demanded, but Clint chuckled as he stood, setting his own coffee cup and plate down into the sink.

"I don't know about that, but I'm in for beach day." he said lightly, smirking as Tony gave a triumphant laugh.

"I've got Legolas' support. Steve, come on, you need a tan. It'll be fun." the billionaire continued, turning his almost pleading eyes to Steve, who just raised an eyebrow.

At the same time, Bruce was looking almost accusingly to Clint, who just tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion.

"What did I do?" he asked incredulously, and the doctor sighed before waving a finger at him.

"All you're going to do is tweak that shoulder while it's trying to heal." he warned and the archer gave a slight groan.

"Bruce, come on, it's not like I'm going out there for a work out. I'll be easy on it, but I don't know about you, but I don't want it getting stiff." Clint said before amusement flashed in his eyes and he continued slyly as he made for his room to change. "If you want to keep an eye on it, you'll just have to come with us."

"Well played." Tony said appreciatively, giving Clint an impressed blink. "We should conspire to get them to do stuff more often."

"We should." Clint threw his agreement over his shoulder, disappearing down the hall, but not before he heard Steve give an exasperated sigh, and Thor's loud voice speak up.

"Friends, I believe I will join you on your day of beach." the demi-god announced, and Tony's excited voice trailed off as Clint got further away.

Unsurprisingly, within the hour they'd all, including Pepper, made their way down the cliffs on the side of the mansion to the sandy beach below. Tony had managed to find a volleyball net that had been used during various parties before, and Thor carried it easily with them while the billionaire himself twirled the ball in his hands and talked excitedly to Clint, who was walking beside him with a raised eyebrow.

Bruce noticed that once they had actually gotten down to the beach that Tony had positioned himself on the far side of the sand, about as far from the water itself as he could without making it obvious that he was trying to avoid it. Even so, after the conversation they had had, he knew what had to be running through the billionaire's mind. Keeping his expression blank, Bruce moved to stand at Tony's side, watching with him as Pepper quickly and easily instructed Steve and Thor on how to get the net set up.

Tony's eyes flashed to him for a moment, and Bruce innocently met his gaze, smiling slightly when the billionaire rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligibly under his breath even as his shoulders noticeably relaxed.

"Okay, so there's what? Seven of us?" Tony asked once the net had been set up, looking around the group with bright eyes. "How are we doing teams then?"

"How about three each and one referee?" Steve asked lightly, sharing a quick, pointed glance with Bruce before looking to Clint.

"I refuse." the archer said sharply in the next moment, having caught the exchange with narrowed eyes. "I want to play too."

"We'll switch out." Bruce offered, knowing how much Clint hated being told he _couldn't_ do something. He'd learned quickly that it was best to offer a compromise. And even that wasn't guaranteed to work, but in this instance he saw the grudging acceptance in his eyes.

"I'll play first." Clint muttered as a sigh, catching the ball that Tony tossed him easily.

They'd separated into teams with only some argument, ending with a final division of Tony, Pepper and Steve against Natasha, Thor and Clint/Bruce.

At the moment, Bruce stood off to the side before signaling to Natasha to serve the ball.

It became quickly apparent as they played, that neither side was afraid of playing dirty to gain the upper hand. At one point, Thor spiked the ball so hard that it dug a trench two feet into the sand. Clint and Natasha worked just as seamlessly playing a game as they did doing anything else. Tony threw around insults, particularly to the pair of assassins that at one point had Steve blushing. The fact that the next time Clint leapt up to hit the ball it slammed straight into Tony's forehead surprised no one and had them laughing.

"Are there fouls for trying to give your opponent a concussion in volleyball?" Bruce asked mildly, even though he was sniggering as well.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Clint shrugged, grinning as he caught the ball that was violently thrown at him from Tony, who was rubbing his forehead with a scowl.

After the first game, Clint reluctantly traded spots with Bruce, even allowing the doctor to check his stitches before they started the next game.

The ache in his shoulder was expected, after all, seeing as it had only been four days since the injury. He wasn't worried about it, nor did it bother him. He was having more fun than he'd had in a while, and he wasn't about to let an injury get in the way of that.

They finished up two more games, each one becoming steadily more bizarre, before Tony stepped back with a sigh as his phone rang, holding it out in front of him and brushing the sand off his hands.

"Platypus! Hey, if you're not busy, you should head over here. We're having a beach day." the billionaire said brightly after answering the call.

'_Tony, I _am_ busy, and I'm going to have to ask you to cut beach day a little short.'_ the Colonel said, his voice strained, which instantly made them all stiffen, especially Tony who frowned. There was a muted yelling and screeching of metal in the background.

"What's the matter, Rhodey?" the billionaire asked quickly as everyone came forward to listen, crowding around the phone.

'_Remember the Hammer drone incident?'_ Rhodes' voice questioned, his tone one of forced innocence that made Tony groan, Pepper gasp and Natasha mutter furiously under her breath in Russian. _'Well, uh, I was doing a walk through inspection of a somewhat similar fleet of robots today at a base, and well, there was a power surge and the computers went haywire and…'_ he trailed off, but Tony was quick to finish his sentence.

"And now they're trying to kill everyone." he deadpanned, looking around to the team, with a frown and narrowed eyes. "Why the hell didn't you tell me about this before Rhodey?"

'_Because I didn't _know_ before.'_ the other man said shortly. _'Look, we could use some help. There's a couple hundred of these things. They can't fly, but the weapons are fully operational.'_

"Sounds like a fun time." Tony said quickly, looking to Steve who quickly spoke.

"Tony, you and Thor fly ahead. The rest of us will follow in a Quinjet. Bruce, while the rest of us get suited up, I want you on the phone with Fury." the Captain ordered quickly and they all started for the mansion again, Tony handing his phone off to Pepper.

"Pep, keep Rhodey on the line until I can connect him into the suit via JARVIS. I'll get a lock on his location and send it to the navigation system of the Quinjet when you get one." Tony told her calmly, watching as she gave a short, determined nod.

"You know, we should probably just ask for our own. All it does is use up more time when we have to wait for one to get here." Clint pointed out as they all more or less sprinted towards their destination.

"We'll talk to Fury about it later." Steve said, before Bruce spoke up, looking to Clint shrewdly.

"Where do you think you're going, exactly?" he demanded, and the archer quickly cast him a sharp look that clearly said not to argue.

"I'm going with the rest of you." he said firmly, his tone as sharp as his eyes. "I know my limits, Bruce, but that Quinjet sure as hell isn't leaving without me. We don't know how strong these drones are, and my explosive arrows will make it a hell of a lot easier to take them out. If nothing else, I can stay up top and call out what I see to the rest of you."

Bruce sighed, clearly wanting to continue, but he _could_ see where Clint had a point. And, it helped that Natasha was giving him a minute shake of her head.

"If I have to put those stitches back in, it's going to cost you." he warned, slowing off from the rest of them as they entered the mansion and giving an exasperated shake of his head to the smirk that the archer tossed back to him.

Within half an hour, Bruce, Steve, Natasha and Clint had loaded onto a SHIELD Quinjet that had been sent directly from the agency's base in L.A. Fury had actually been surprised by Bruce's call, seeing as he had just gotten the information himself. Tony had sent the coordinates for the military base near the California/Arizona border to the jet, and the pilots were currently flying the jet at maximum speed to get them there quickly.

Thor and Tony had gone ahead, and they were waiting from word through the comms. that they had arrived.

Bruce was currently trying not to be too nervous. He wasn't comfortable at all letting the Other Guy loose on a military base, not sure how he would react, even with the threat of the drones and the team present. He voiced his concerns to Steve, who gave him a look of slight understanding before he responded.

"We might not even need the Hulk, Bruce. We'll just have to wait for Tony and Thor's report back." the super soldier told him and the doctor shifted uncomfortably before looking to where Clint was in the process of changing the arrow heads in his quiver to be all explosive, knowing that those were likely all he would need.

"Clint, do you have…?" Bruce trailed off quietly, watching as the archer's shoulders stiffened slightly before he cast a quick glance up to him.

"Yes, Bruce." he said tonelessly, though the nod he gave was less stiff, and more reassuring. He could see the worry that was dominating the doctor's expression, and if he could calm some of it, he would. He did have one of the tranquilizer arrow heads in his quiver, just like he'd promised.

'_Iron Man reporting in to the rest of the class.'_ Steve, Clint and Natasha straightened slightly when Tony's obviously fake chipper tone came through the comms. and Bruce's eyes flashed slightly as he turned to them.

"What's it look like?" Steve questioned quickly, and Tony gave a slight snort.

'_Oh, you know, mayhem, chaos, our usual gig.'_ he said lightly, the sound of Thor's battle cry in the background. _'We should be able to care of this, no problem though. Just got to keep the bastards from busting out and making a break for civilization. I don't think we're going to need to pull the green card, though, so pass the memo to Bruce.' _Tony paused and there was the sound of repulsor fire, his tone having hardened when he spoke again. _'We managed to get most of the people out of the way, but there's a few casualties.'_

"We'll be there as quickly as we can." Steve said shortly, looking to see Clint relaying the information to Bruce, who looked somewhat relieved.

'_That'd be helpful.'_ Tony said, his tone light again. _'When you do get here, I think I've got something Bruce can do though.'_

It was only ten minutes before the Quinjet was getting as close as it dared to the fighting and the four Avengers inside were jumping down into the fighting. Bruce felt the Other Guy rising up inside him, wanting at the metal drones that had turned their attentions to them and started attacking, but he pushed the feeling down with a long, calming breath, looking for Rhodey.

Tony said the Colonel would be waiting when they landed, to take him to the room that housed the computer systems that ran the drones. Tony thought that if he could get the systems back online, he could shut down the drones as opposed to decimating them. And while Bruce thought it was a good idea, he wasn't so sure that he'd be able to do it, not when the men and women that manned the program usually hadn't been able to.

Even so, he walked quickly but calmly to the door where he saw Rhodes, smiling slightly when he saw Steve and Natasha covering him as he went, Clint having already been whisked off to the roof of one of the hangars.

"You look rather calm for the situation." Rhodes shouted to him over the din if the fighting as he slipped inside, nodding to the other man quickly and following as he started down the hallway.

"I have to be." Bruce said simply with a slight shrug, eyes narrowing slightly when they turned into a room filled with computers, four other people waiting nervously inside. "I thought Tony said everyone had been moved to one of the buildings that wasn't in the heart of the danger zone?"

"We've been trying to get the systems back online to shut down the drones." one of the men said, stepping away from a computer station as Bruce and Rhodes approached.

"May I?" the doctor asked, gesturing to the station and pulling on his glasses once he got a hesitant nod in return.

* * *

Clint's jaw clenched almost painfully as he strung another arrow and loosed it into the middle of a throng of drones bearing down on Steve, Thor and Natasha.

It exploded moments later, taking out a good portion of the group, and damaging more.

He was only firing arrows when it was strictly necessary, his shoulder throbbing with an intensity he hadn't felt since the injury happened. He could feel that he hadn't reopened the wound; the pain simply coming from the torn muscle that was still trying to heal. That didn't stop him from firing his bow when needed to keep the robots from overwhelming his teammates.

Other than that, he kept his eyes moving, sweeping across expanse of what he could see from his vantage point, calling out strays to Tony, who was running the perimeter.

He stiffened readily when he heard the sound of the roof door slamming open behind him, spinning and rolling to the side just as bullets sprayed out towards where he had been stationed. A pair of drones moved out onto the rooftop, and Clint drew and fired two arrows before they could locate him again, using normal arrows because that's all he had time to grab. Even so, aimed directly at the very important looking cables in the neck, they got the job done, both collapsing instantly.

"The neck is a weak spot." he spat into the comm. to inform his teammates of his discovery and carefully moving back to his feet at the edge of the roof.

'_Noted.'_ Steve grunted in response, a similar sound coming from Natasha. _'How are we looking?'_

"Well, the mass you and Widow are dealing with is almost done, but Thor's having a party around the next building, and there's stragglers roaming around that Tony's taking care of." Clint informed him easily, gazing around in another scan of the area and letting out a long breath before firing an arrow down to take care of a few drones at Thor's back.

'_Any action coming to you?'_ Steve questioned next, and Clint made a slight sound of disapproval, eyes narrowing as he watched the super soldier.

"I'm fine, Cap, pay attention to yourself."

* * *

Bruce was working furiously at the computer, well aware of Rhodes and the four others watching him.

"Do you still have Tony on the phone?" the doctor asked, turning to Rhodes sharply, the man giving a quick nod. "Tell him that this wasn't a system failure. It was a virus."

He saw Rhodes shocked expression, but didn't respond to it, trying to find where the virus had originated from.

"So you're saying someone _did_ this? Purposefully?" the Colonel demanded, as the four techs whispered heatedly back and forth with one another.

"At this point I can't really tell." Bruce admitted, pausing and turning when he heard the sounds of metal on metal, small blasts coming much closer than they had been previously.

"Hell." Rhodes spat, pulling his pistol, but Bruce highly doubted that it would do much damage to one of the drones.

"Stay here, get down, and put your weapon away." Bruce all but ordered, standing and going to the door, sticking his head out quickly to see how many there were, pulling back in and firmly pushing down the Other Guy when he threatened to surge forward when bullets peppered the far end of the hallway, luckily missing his head. There were at least five of them. "Tell Tony what's going on, and tell him to have Clint get eyes on the building just in case."

He _really_ didn't want to hurt Rhodey, or the others, but he didn't see any of the rest of the team getting to them quick enough.

"What are you going to do?" the Colonel asked, though by the tone of his voice, he already had a pretty good idea. Bruce tried not to be discouraged by the carefully masked fear and wariness in his voice.

The doctor tossed him an exasperated look before fully stepping out into the hallway and smoothly giving way to the Other Guy.

Rhodey watched with unmasked shock and a little fear as the green beast clenched his fists and roared an ear-shattering warning to the oncoming drones.

"Tony, did you hear that?" he pulled himself together quickly and spoke into his phone, that was on speaker in his hand.

'_Sure did.'_ the billionaire's voice was remarkably unconcerned considering the situation.

"What do I _do_?" the Colonel hissed his question, watching with wide eyes as the Hulk slammed his fists into the attacking drones, completely ignoring the bullets that peppered his skin.

'_What did he _tell_ you to do?'_ Tony retorted easily, before he gave a grunt and there was a clang of metal from his end. _'Trust me, just this once Rhodey. It'll be fine. The Big Guy's got higher priorities, even if he seems to have a hatred of the military; which in his defense is completely justified.'_

"Not helping, Tony." Rhodey muttered, though he expected his words were drowned out as the beast in the hallway gave an enraged roar as one of the remaining drones launched a missile at him that was strong enough to knock him back and out of Rhodes' range of vision.

The Colonel froze when the drone then took the opportunity as the missile exploded to turn into the room he and the four techs were currently in. He raised his pistol again and directed a few quick shots to the neck of the drone, giving a grim smirk when sparks flew from the areas he'd hit, only to frown when it became apparent that he hadn't struck any of the vital wires.

The drone lifted its own weapon to retaliate, but before it could, a massive green fist punched through the wall and wrapped around the drone, crushing it almost in two. A sort of smug, but still angry grunt followed as the Hulk released the still twitching and sparking drone, looking not at all affected by the missile he'd been hit with.

Rhodey shook his head slightly, admittedly impressed. Those thoughts were gone, however, when the giant, green rage monster looked in on them, teeth bared in a sort of snarl. He heard on of the techs crouched behind him breathe a curse, but he personally remained completely still, staring after the Hulk in amazement as he turned away with a snort and crashed his way out of the building.

'_Rhodey, how're you doing?'_ Tony's voice came from over the phone in his hand, drawing him out of his shocked silence and casuing him to look down.

"Fine. I think he's going to you guys." he responded, forcing a level tone into his voice despite his disbelief.

'_Oh good. This should be taken care of pretty quickly.'_ the billionaire's tone held a slight edge of 'I-told-you-so', but Rhodes couldn't find it in himself to mind.

* * *

Clint gave a slight smirk as he walked out of the hanger he'd formerly been perched on the roof of, just as the Hulk smashed the final two drones into their own little crater. He moved to stand with Tony and Natasha as Steve spoke, requesting that Thor and the Big Guy start piling up the scattered pieces of the drones so the resulting cleanup would be a little easier.

The Captain himself then moved to let the base's personnel know that the fight was over while Tony called in the SHIELD response team that was waiting a mile or two out.

That left the two assassins standing together near the center of the base, looking each other over critically.

"Your shoulder?" Natasha asked briskly as Clint collapsed his bow and slid it into the slot on the side of his quiver, using his left arm for the action as opposed to his right as he usually would.

"Throbbing like hell, but I'm fine." he told her dismissively, rolling his eyes as her unconvinced expression. "Tasha, I only did what I absolutely needed to."

"We could have managed without you once." she retorted making his eyes darken, which in turn made her drop the subject, turning away with an annoyed huff as SHIELD vehicles pulled smoothly into the center of the base.

Barely ten minutes later, Clint called out to the Hulk at Steve's suggestion, seeing as both SHIELD and military personnel were getting edgy with the Big Guy's presence.

"Cupid." the big, green rage monster looked vaguely pleased to see him, lumbering over and crouching down to be more on the archer's level, not that it made much difference. Even so, the sight was comical, and Clint grinned in response.

"Hey Big Guy, how's it going?" he asked and the Hulk snorted dispassionately. "Still no small talk today, huh?"

Especially since their interaction during the fiasco with Ross, Clint had pretty much taken over dealing with the Hulk, which had very nearly made Tony jealous. The archer still occasionally teased him about it, seeing as the fact remained that he was the one that found it easiest to engage the Big Guy in actual conversation, not that it ever lasted very long.

"Cupid hurt?" Hulk asked instead, tilting his head slightly in what had become his customary after-battle question. Clint didn't know why he felt the need to ask if he was hurt every time, but it certainly didn't bother him.

"Nah, Big Guy I'm fine. I've got to say though, you aren't going to fit on the Quinjet. How 'bout we get Bruce back?" the archer asked, completely aware of two SHIELD agents watching his interaction with the Hulk but ignoring them.

Hulk grumbled slightly but stood, moving to step behind one of the buildings to change back to Bruce. As he walked away, Clint turned slightly to pull the rolled up pair of cargo pants and t-shirt Bruce had asked him to hold from where they had been secured to the bottom of his quiver, ears perking slightly when he heard the two younger agents sniggering at him.

"Hey Cupid!" one of them called as a condescending laugh, and Clint felt his eyes narrow and he slowly looked around to face them, eyes flashing dangerously, but his expression otherwise blank.

The amusement died almost instantly from the young man's face at that expression, and on top of that, the Hulk gave a snarl and cleared the space between him and the two agents in moments, looming over them threateningly.

"Hey, Big Guy, take it easy." Clint said quickly, his annoyance forgotten in worry, stepping quickly forward, hand moving back to grasp the arrow connected to the tranquilizer. The last thing he wanted to do was use it and give Bruce any more fuel for his constant worry, but letting the Hulk smash two newbie agents wouldn't be acceptable either.

"Only Hulk call Cupid. Not little man." the big, green rage monster snarled down at them, who were now almost crying out of terror.

Had the situation been a little less serious, Clint would have died laughing. And if this ended well, as he expected it to, he would later. He saw Tony hovering a few feet away, mask raised and expression torn, but the archer just gave him a short shake of his head before speaking up the Hulk.

"Alright, I think they get it, buddy." he said reassuringly, patting him lightly on the arm. "The little man won't call me Cupid anymore. Will you?" he tossed the question out to the agents, who both quickly and wordlessly shook their heads.

The Big Guy snorted and took a small step back and Clint let his hand fall from the arrow and he gave a smirk.

"Go on now. The Quinjet isn't getting any bigger." the archer urged, his smirk widening when the Hulk gave his own vicious smirk and continued behind the building again. Once he was out of earshot, Clint turned to the two openly terrified agents and smoothed his expression into the same dangerous one he'd given them a few moments before. "You call me Hawkeye, chuckleheads. Any variations from that, and you'll be seeing me during your next sparring evaluations."

"Y-yes, sir." one of them stammered before they both scampered off, towards another grouping of older agents, some of which Clint recognized, who were also quick to let them know how utterly stupid their comment had been.

Clint turned to Tony as the billionaire approached him from the side, eyes now bright with barely contained laughter.

"Tell me that you got the on some video feed." he said, grinning widely when Tony's eyes too brightened with mirth.

"Of course I did. I'm thinking of throwing that in with movie night later." he said as if it was obvious, but before Clint could respond, Bruce's head stuck out from around the corner.

"Uh, Clint?"

"Sorry, Bruce." the archer said quickly, moving closer and tossing the doctor the roll of clothes, which the older man reached out to catch gratefully.

Within a minute or two, he joined them, looking weary and exhausted though that was typical for him after a change.

"Nothing bad happened did it?" Bruce asked almost warily, looking around the base carefully.

"Nah. Everything was as kosher as a fleet of killer drones going ape-shit on a military base could be." Tony said flippantly, and Bruce gave him a muted glare, but said nothing else.

It wasn't long before they were joined by Natasha, Steve and Thor, the Captain speaking as he walked up.

"Are we ready to get out of here? SHIELD and the military are taking things from here." Steve informed, looking around at them all critically and giving a slight nod to himself after confirming that no one was hurt.

"I second the motion." Tony said quickly, starting for the open Quinjet that was waiting on the outskirts of the base, only to pause when Rhodey walked up. "Hey, Rhodey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Tony. We've just got one hell of an investigation to start up." the Colonel said, before sweeping his eyes across the group and settling them onto Bruce. He then took a small step forward and offered his hand to the doctor. "Thank you, Dr. Banner. And I hope you'll forgive me for my attitude."

Bruce gave a blink of surprise, staring at the offered hand for a moment before he shook it hesitantly and gave a small smile.

"It's alright." he assured easily. "You're welcome."

Rhodes nodded quickly, looking to Tony again as the billionaire spoke.

"Listen, once your involvement in this fiasco is over, feel free to come by for a drink. Or five. I think we could all use it." Tony said matter of factly and Rhodey snorted, clapping him on the shoulder as he turned to walk away.

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Once they got back to the mansion, Pepper rushed up to them and immediately wrapped her arms around Tony, surveying him quickly.

"Thank God you're alright." she murmured, and he just gave her a bright grin, kissing her forehead lightly.

"I'm fine, Pep. We all are." he assured her, and at that moment Bruce took Clint by his good shoulder and steered him to the table, the archer not resisting even if he did give a slightly exasperated sigh.

"I didn't rip it open Bruce. The muscles are aching, but that's it." he told the doctor easily, allowing him to pull the tank top that he'd worn under his suit to the side to get access to the injury, seeing as he'd taken the vest off on the flight back to the mansion.

The doctor gave a quiet snort as he gently felt around the area for any heat or swelling, frowning when he saw the archer stiffen with the touch.

"Ice it and rest it." he more or less ordered with a sigh, giving a slight shake of his head. "And while you're at it, stop being so stubborn."

"Sorry doc, no can do on that one." Clint smirked, moving to set the things he was carrying down on the table so he could grab one of the ice packs from the freezer.

"Pity." Bruce said lightly, before turning toward the hallway that led to their rooms. "I'm taking a nap. Don't bother waking me up unless something explodes, spontaneously combusts or otherwise endangers the health of pretty much everyone but me. I'd like to be awake when those things cause me to turn into a giant, green rage monster."

"Bruce, has anyone ever told you that you become wonderfully amusing when tired?" Tony asked curiously, throwing his arm around the doctor's shoulders as they both walked down the hall.

"I've heard bitingly and morbidly sarcastic." Bruce corrected tonelessly, which just caused the billionaire beside him to laugh.

Steve followed, slowly shaking his head and casting an amused glance to Thor who was walking beside him. Natasha stepped up to Clint, murmuring quietly that she'd take a shower and be back out to sit with him in a few minutes.

Clint couldn't help a slight grin as he watched them all go, before turning toward the kitchen, only to see Pepper offering him an ice pack already wrapped in a dish towel with a knowing grin.

"Thanks." the archer nodded to her gratefully, sliding down into a chair and holding the ice pack to his shoulder with a quiet, relieved sigh.

"You know, I wouldn't have minded company." Pepper told him matter of factly, looking him over with an expression that was both concerned and kind. Clint just gave a slight smile that in hindsight looked more like a grimace.

"I'm fine. Besides, I couldn't let them go out and have all the fun." he responded lightly, and she gave a slightly exasperated sigh, but nodded acceptance.

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything, I'm doing some work in the living room." she told him before walking away.

Clint turned to the table and closed his eyes to sit in silence for a few minutes, letting the cold from the ice pack soothe his aching shoulder. Only a few minutes later, he opened his eyes again as he heard who could only be Thor approaching behind him, the demi-god's footsteps loud and obvious.

"How do you fare, Friend Hawk?" the blonde Asgardian asked lightly as he took a seat on the archer's right, his armor now replaced with his customary 'Midgardian' clothes: jeans and a t-shirt.

"'M fine, Thor, thanks." Clint said briskly, giving his head a quick shake to clear it, meeting Thor's almost amused gaze.

"The trust and bond between you and Lady Natasha is clearly one born of fire." the demi-god changed the subject seemingly randomly, and Clint looked at him quizzically, waiting for him to continue. "The strongest of bonds, especially between warriors. And yet, even to her you under exaggerate your injuries. Why is that?" his expression was tinged with concern now and Clint felt himself stiffen, suddenly finding the tabletop very interesting.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." he said lightly, though he mentally cursed himself. Thor was a born warrior from a warrior-race that had probably seen centuries of battle. He could probably read a battle injury better than any medic or doctor alive.

"You believe we will think you weak? Suddenly unable to perform your duty permanently due to one short absence because of injury?" the Asgardian questioned, ignoring his words and leaning forward slightly. "Human you may be, but I do not believe 'weak' is a word that anyone would use to describe you."

Clint didn't verbally respond for a few moments, suddenly wondering why people had the assumption that Thor was all brawn and no brain. It was certainly far from the truth, which he was currently exhibiting very well.

"I can handle it." he said eventually, looking up to meet the demi-god's gaze. "Why should I bother everyone else with my problems?"

"It is not a bother to any of us to see to the well-being of a teammate." Thor pointed out wisely. "You have nothing to prove to us, Hawk, and you should not feel inclined to act as though there was."

"Feeling philosophical today, are we?" Clint questioned with a raised eyebrow after another short stretch of silence, causing Thor to smile.

"Maybe a little, my friend. I have noticed you behavior in the past and saw fit to bring it up now, between the two of us. An injury is the mark of a warrior, no less." the demi-god said firmly, and Clint snorted.

"And how often do you come out of a fight with more than a few bruises?" the archer asked rhetorically, and Thor smiled again, this time with a chuckle.

"I will admit, not often here on Midgard. When I was younger; more reckless, on Asgard, my trips to the healing room were often. To be able to fight through one's own pain is an ability even many warriors lack. I am proud to fight beside you."

"Thank you Thor." Clint said with a slight nod, feeling more than a little humbled.

"No thanks are needed when the truth is spoken." the demi-god said, before he brightened slightly and tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "I have shared many tales of my past battles, but I wonder if you would be willing to share some of your own with me."

Clint gave a slight shrug with his left shoulder and a nod, eyes brightening slightly as he tried to decide what to tell him.

He'd gotten half-way through a description of one of his tougher missions in Cairo when Natasha joined them, moving a chair to sit behind the archer's injured shoulder replacing his hand on the ice pack with her own so he could rest his arm.

* * *

**And there we have it. Hope it lives up to all of your expectations. I will try my hardest not to make you guys have to wait so long between chapters next time.  
~Dogstar**


	8. Chapter 8

**I know, I know, I'm a horrible person. I've kept you all waiting for more than a week, and I'm unbelievably sorry. It's just been a very hectic week. Thank you so much for all of your reviews, favorites and alerts, they really mean a lot to me. So, you know, keep them coming, if you would be so kind. I'm still in the process of getting the ones for chapter 7 responded to.**

**This chapter's a little on the fluffier side, both in the forms of Clint/Natasha as well as Tony/Pepper. I think it turned out alright though, but don't be afraid to tell me what you think. Current plan for the story involves three or four more chapters, and in the next one we'll be leaving Malibu and heading back to New York, for reasons you'll see when you read the chapter.**

**From here on out, I'll be using creative license for Pepper's past, seeing as I looked around but couldn't find anything concrete, so if there is something cannon and I'm just not finding it, consider this AU.**

**I've kept you waiting more than long enough, so here is the next chapter; I hope you enjoy.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

Rhodes stopped by for a short visit the next afternoon, telling them that they still weren't sure how the virus that had set the drones off had gotten into the system. It was clear, however, even during the small amount of time the Colonel had to sit down with them, that nearly the entirety of the tension between him and Bruce was gone. Tony in particular noticed, and was smiling gleefully the entire time.

He had known that Rhodey just needed some time to get to know Bruce, and even the Hulk himself, but it was still good to know that he had been right. That his arguably two best friends in the world could get along with each other.

After Rhodey had left, the sun was just beginning to set and it was actually Steve's idea to find some fire-wood and start a bonfire on the beach. He cited the fact that they hadn't really gotten to finish their day at the beach the day before as their reasoning, and the others were quick to agree.

Together, Clint and Bruce raided the kitchen to find suitable cookout foods, gathering quite a few packs of hotdogs and buns, as well as every single bag of marshmallows they could find.

Clint wasn't quite sure _where_ exactly Steve and Thor had found firewood, but he didn't ask either, sitting down on a towel in the sand between Natasha and Thor. Steve was passing out sticks they could use to cook their food, and Tony was busying himself with getting the fire started. He sincerely hoped he wasn't the only one that doubted the decision to let Stark take that responsibility.

A few minutes later, he was thankfully proved wrong in his doubts, seeing as the bonfire had been started without any unexpected explosions.

Their typical teasing banter started up, even Natasha relaxing enough to lean against Clint's side as she taunted Tony, though it caused nothing more than a sarcastic eye roll and huff from the billionaire, who was currently transferring one of Pepper's hotdogs to a bun.

When his eyes glanced up to her a few moments later, he took in her easy-going position with a grin before he spoke up, tone teasing but holding an air of sincere curiosity.

"So are you two ever going to admit that you're like _together_ together?" he asked simply, smirking when both assassins stiffened ever so slightly and turned their eyes to him, as did the gazes of the rest of the team. When the silence ran on, Tony continued, tone unchanging. "I mean we all know you're sleeping together, you haven't exactly tried to keep _that_ a secret, so what gives?"

"Tony," Steve started, sounding disapproving. They all knew that you never got an outright answer to a personal question directed to either assassin, especially not concerning one another. Both Clint and Natasha would share only what was strictly necessary when they felt the time was right, not before.

To their surprise however, Clint shared one short glance with Natasha, who hadn't moved, before he spoke, eyes flashing with amusement as a smirk formed on his face.

"Just because we're sleeping in the same bed, that doesn't mean we're having sex, Stark." he pointed out, one eyebrow raising when the billionaire frowned, eyes narrowing as it he was genuinely stumped.

"You are the two saddest people in the history of the world." Tony said matter of factly a few moments later, rolling his eyes when an already slightly blushing Steve cleared his throat pointedly. Tony just rolled his eyes. "Yes, gramps, you can pull your fingers out of your ears now. We're done talking about the 's' word."

Clint just about choked as he tried to contain his laughter, unaware of why he found the exchange between Tony and Steve so amusing. The super soldier met his gaze then, a slightly sheepish smile on his face, and Clint couldn't help himself as the laugh bubbled up again, escaping before he tried to control it.

The others joined in with him after a few beats of shocked silence.

"God, I haven't laughed like that in _forever_." the archer gasped after a few long moments as he calmed, eyes bright as he propped an arm behind his head where he had fallen back into the sand. "And the sad part is, is that it wasn't even that funny."

"I don't know, I thought it was pretty damn hilarious." Tony said modestly, taking the light smack that Pepper directed at his arm good –naturedly.

"Even I have to admit that was funny." Steve pointed out, his smile having grown, leaning back on his arms as he looked over the group.

"Yeah, but not _that_ funny." Clint shook his head before looking up to where Natasha was gazing down at him with a hint of amused exasperation that was invisible to everyone else.

The night continued on in relative peace after that, everyone pitching in to help Thor master the art of marshmallow roasting, without ending up with a charred black mushy fireball.

It was Pepper that was first to refuse Tony's proposal of a drinking game, unwilling to let any drunk Avenger within half a mile of a bonfire. When she said that, it caused another laugh from everyone but Tony, who just pouted.

As time wore on, the fire lowered as it burned itself out, and Pepper was the first to drop off into sleep amid the quiet conversations that surrounded her. Thor was next, promptly followed by Bruce, and then, to everyone's surprise, Natasha drifted off where she was leaning against Clint's side again.

"Has she ever fallen asleep around us unless she was the last one awake?" Tony asked, voice quiet but shocked, and Clint gave a slight shrug with the shoulder that wasn't being used as a pillow.

He alone knew that nightmares had kept the Widow up all last night, hardly allowing her to get any sleep. Even so, he also knew that falling asleep around the others showed a level of trust that she hadn't exhibited before, which made him feel a tingle of relief. He had relaxed around the team almost completely; that was a feat in itself. But however hard it was for him to trust, it was double for her. Sure, she bantered with Tony occasionally, sparred with Thor and gave Steve pointers on his technique, but she hadn't yet shown them her emotions. Granted, it had taken _him_ two years to get to that point.

He was pulled out of his thoughts at Tony quietly calling his name and he raised his gaze to meet the billionaire's, expression questioning.

"Care to share what's going on in that head of yours?" Tony asked, sounding amused, but Clint just snorted.

"No." he said matter of factly, making Tony adopt an insulted expression and chuckling slightly to himself. "You know, I think I'm getting too used to all this normal human interaction."

"It's good for you to come down out of your nest every once in a while, Featherhead." Tony snorted in a condescending tone, and Clint just rolled his eyes before looking to Steve as he spoke.

"I have noticed that you're spending less time above things lately." the Captain pointed out curiously, and Clint gave a slow nod, trying to decide how to respond.

"I don't feel like I need to keep my distance to be safe with you guys anymore." he explained honestly after a few moments, before he frowned. "It's odd, really."

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment that you trust us, or an insult that it's odd." Tony quipped, and Clint sent him a slight glare as he responded.

"I'm a professional covert assassin, Stark. Trusting anyone is odd." he said dryly with a slight shake of his head, not telling them that he had stopped trusting before he ever became an assassin.

Tony scoffed slightly, before looking at his watch, and then around himself with a sigh.

"We probably shouldn't sleep out here." he pointed out wisely, before looking to Steve. "Will you put out the fire, boy scout?"

Steve rolled his eyes but stood smoothly to do so, as Tony rolled to his feet and began shaking Bruce and Pepper awake. Clint reached over and patted Thor on the arm, grinning slightly when the demi-god's blue eyes blinked open blearily.

"We're going inside." he explained quietly and Thor gave a short nod of acceptance and a yawn before moving to get up. That done, Clint carefully got his arms around Natasha before easily pushing himself to his feet, keeping the other assassin's sleeping form cradled gently in his arms.

Even so, he felt her stiffen into wakefulness at the movement, though he pretended not to notice as her eyes opened to silts and looked up to him and then her position. He half expected her to demand to be put down immediately, but to his slight surprise a small, almost invisible smile formed on her face and her eyes closed again, shifting herself slightly to be more comfortable in his arms. He gave himself a quiet chuckle and a small shake of his head at her actions. She'd only let him carry her once before, and at that point she'd had a broken ankle, a bullet wound in her side and a dislocated shoulder. As such, he counted this as a minor miracle, even though his motivation had been to let her keep sleeping.

"That's great, Barton, just make the rest of us look like assholes." Tony's voice sounded, somewhat annoyed, and Clint looked to him with a smirk as Steve led the way back up to the mansion.

"Sorry, Stark." he said flippantly, not sounding it at all.

Back at the mansion, they all went straight for their bedrooms, though Clint headed to Natasha's easily. Lightly closing the door behind himself, he looked down to see her gazing up at him with a mischievous grin on her face.

"You owe me one for not ratting out that you were awake." he told her matter of factly, setting her lightly on her feet and smirking when she just gave a slight roll of her eyes, heading for the bath room.

"You didn't have to carry me." she pointed out in the same tone through the closed door.

"You didn't have to let me." he retorted before quickly slipping out of the room before she could respond and heading to his own for a quick shower to rinse off the sand and the smell of smoke.

He went back to Natasha's once he was finished, not surprised to see her sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed and waiting for him.

"How long was I asleep out there anyway?" she asked as they both climbed into bed, facing one another easily.

"Maybe half an hour." Clint shrugged. "I knew you needed the sleep, that's why I didn't want to wake you up."

She sighed but didn't comment on that, instead closing her eyes again in an effort to drift back into sleep.

* * *

A few days later found Steve, Thor, Clint and Bruce in the training gym. The only reason Bruce was there was to keep an eye on Clint, unconvinced that the archer was just doing some defensive work with Steve and Thor, and not actually sparring with them.

"I'm sort of disappointed you don't trust me, doc." Clint pointed out, ducking fluidly around Steve's upper-cut and dancing away again. "I mean, all I'm going here is giving poor Cap a work out."

"Oh yes, trust you to see to yourself medically. The same man who sneaks out of his infirmary room through the air vents." Bruce said sarcastically, though there was a glint of teasing amusement that had Clint rolling his eyes.

"Natasha was ignoring me, and I wanted some pudding from mess." he said defensively, and Bruce snorted, shaking his head as Clint carried on this conversation while flitting around Steve's punches and kicks with almost insulting ease. "I couldn't exactly _walk_ out. I've been there enough to know that the medics aren't fond of that."

"Right." Bruce said dryly.

Clint tossed him an insulted look with a huff before sliding under and around a spinning kick from Steve, coming up from a roll and scowling when he came face to face with Steve's fist, that had stopped as soon as it was apparent that it was actually going to hit.

"I think I could get used to this not actually getting punched in the ribs thing." Clint quipped as he leapt to his feet when Steve grinned at him and stepped back. "I should get stabbed in the shoulder more often."

"I don't think that's what you should take away from this, Clint." Steve shook his head slowly in exasperation, nodding slightly in acceptance as Thor moved to take Clint's spot in the ring.

"Of course it is." the archer disagreed, smirking at Bruce who had leveled an impassive look at him, which by the doctor's standards was almost a glare. "But I don't think my warden approves."

"Oh, so I'm your warden now?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow, watching with a slight air of amusement as Clint nodded sagely.

"I _have_ been to prison, and can thus make an accurate comparison." he said matter of factly, which just made the doctor roll his eyes in an exasperated fashion that had Clint grinning at him.

Before Bruce could do more than open his mouth to respond, Tony threw the gym door open and walked inside, looking around at them all nervously.

"Oh good, you're all here." he said, closing the door quickly behind himself.

The four other men quickly shared glances before approaching quickly, knowing that it was not at all like Tony Stark to be nervous.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Bruce asked quickly, but the billionaire just came over to stand with them, shaking his head quickly.

"No, no. Nothing's _wrong_ exactly," he started, glancing around the gym quickly, before back to them somewhat sheepishly. "I just have a small… problem."

By then, both Bruce and Steve had arched their eyebrows in confusion, Clint's eyes had narrowed slightly as he looked over the billionaire, and Thor had taken a small step forward.

"Perhaps you should tell us of your dilemma, my friend." the blonde Asgardian suggested, and Tony's gaze snapped to him quickly, staring at him for a few long moments.

"I want to ask Pepper to marry me." he blurted out unexpectedly, shifting his weight from foot to foot in a far from customary show of nerves and causing surprise to blossom on the faces of the four other men. He didn't seem to notice, instead beginning to pace a short path in front of them, running a hand through his hair. "But, I mean, this is _me_ we're talking about. I have absolutely no clue where to even start… Pepper likes romantic-y things. I can't figure out romantic-y things. Every time I want to ask her something important like this, we get into an argument before hand, and I don't even know _how_. I know I'm going to end up regretting this in about thirty seconds, but I need help."

"Tony, slow down. You're rambling." Bruce said patiently, amusement flashing in his eyes. He gestured the obviously flustered billionaire to one of the chairs around the edges of the gym. Tony all but collapsed into it, staring up at Bruce hopefully. "Now, first things first. Do you have a ring?"

The doctor took easy control of the conversation, much to the relief of Steve, Clint and Thor, all of which had adopted something akin to 'deer in headlights' expressions, though Clint's was far less pronounced. In response to his question, Tony wordlessly nodded and promptly brought forward a small black box, flipping it open to reveal a simple yet elegant diamond engagement ring. It was made of two twined coils of gold, one white and one yellow, while a perfectly sized diamond rested in the center.

"Think she'll like it?" he asked, before giving a quick smirk. "You should have seen me trying to talk to the guy at the jewelry store. It was an… interesting conversation."

"I think she'll love it." Bruce confirmed easily, giving a slight roll of his eyes as Steve and Clint gave uncomfortable nods and Thor tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"I do not yet know of the traditions of Midgard, but on Asgard when a marriage is proposed there is a grand feast. And a ceremony of some sort passed from father to son when the time is right. My father has yet to share it with me, so I am afraid I will be of little help to you." he explained apologetically and Tony gave him a short nod before looking to Steve, who raised his hands and took a small step back.

"I can barely talk to women without spluttering over myself." he said matter of factly, though he too was slightly apologetic.

Tony groaned before turning his eyes speculatively to Clint, who just raised an eyebrow.

"What about you, Legolas? Say you were going to ask-," before he could even finish the sentence before the archer gave an exasperated sigh and cut him off.

"Don't you even think about ending that question the way I think you're going to. Not going to happen." Clint said tonelessly, eyes narrowing slightly when Tony scoffed.

"Oh please. We all know it'll happen eventually." he said, losing some of his nervousness in favor of giving Clint a disbelieving stare. "Come on, Barton, help me out."

"Hey, you're the one that came to the assassin, demi-god from another realm, socially awkward super soldier and guy that turns into a giant green rage monster for relationship advice." Clint deadpanned, causing slight chuckles from everyone, including Tony. There was silence for a few moments before Clint spoke again, this time his tone exasperated. "You've known her longer than any of us, Stark. What does she like?"

"She'd want it to be more private, just the two of us." Tony told them carefully after a few moments of silence, eyes narrowing into thought, before they sparked with excitement and he looked up to the others. "I think I might have an idea. Will you guys help me with something?"

"I thought that was why we were all standing here talking about rings and feelings." Clint remarked lightly, though there was a distinctly teasing smirk on his face, which caused Tony to childishly stick his tongue out at the archer.

The five men managed to come to an agreement on a plan, which was why Tony was able to approach Pepper with more of his usual confidence the next afternoon, just as the sun was starting to set.

"Hey Pep." he said, giving her a bright smile as he plopped down beside where she was reading a book on one of the couches. He waited for her to look up to him curiously before he continued, completely ignoring the fluttering his stomach had taken to doing again. "You wanna go for a walk down the beach?"

"A walk?" she asked, somewhat confused but amused at the same time.

"Yeah." Tony said easily. "You, me, the sunset… A lack of snow. I mean, we do have to go back to New York in a few days… Did I mention the lack of snow?"

She laughed and set her book aside, standing instead and pulling him with her.

"I guess I can fit that into my schedule, Mr. Stark." she said with a slight roll of her eyes, and Tony grinned brightly.

"Fantastic, Ms. Potts." he said easily, discretely feeling for the little box in his pocket as he lead her towards the door.

* * *

Tony felt his nerves return full force once they'd gotten down onto the sand and were walking slowly down the beach, hand in hand.

"So what's this about?" Pepper asked good naturedly after maybe ten minutes, turning her curious gaze to him as opposed to the waves she'd been watching before, her gaze now almost shrewd. "There's got to be something you either did or are going to do. You're too quiet."

Smirking, Tony gave a mock gasp, slapping his free hand over his heart for dramatic effect.

"Ms. Potts, I'm offended you think me capable of such things." he teased, watching with glittering eyes as she shot him an all too familiar look of annoyed amusement. "Alright, alright, you've caught me."

He glanced around the beach once, not knowing why he suddenly felt the need to make sure they were completely alone. Even so, once his eyes had turned back to her, he let go of her hand and reached into his pocket instead, stepping around to stand in front of her as he secured the little box in his fingers. Taking a deep breath and giving her a little nervous grin, he lowered himself down onto one knee, flipping the box open with surprising ease.

Before he could even say a word, she had gasped and brought both hands to her mouth, staring down at him in shock.

"I know that I am the hardest person in the world to deal with," he started quickly, trying to keep the nervous shake out of his voice as well as remember what he wanted to say. "And I know you worry yourself sick over me when I'm off saving the world, or doing something stupid, or whatnot. But the fact of the matter is that I'd probably be dead and broke in a ditch somewhere around a decade ago without you." he paused and frowned for a moment before continuing. "I'm also aware that I legitimately suck at being romantic. Never mind." he shook his head as she gave a breathless giggle from behind her hands. "I should probably just get to the point before I screw this up. I love you Pepper. And I can't imagine spending the rest of my life doing anything other than making you happy. You make me a better man than I ever could have dreamed of being before I met you. Will you marry me?"

Having finally gotten the words out, he glanced up to her, smiling softly when he saw the unshed tears and happiness in her eyes.

"Oh, Tony." she murmured, cupping his face in her hands and pulling him up. "Yes, of course."

He felt his face light up in a grin, pulling her closer and kissing her passionately before he even knew what he was doing.

The only reason they pulled apart was for air a few long minutes later, their eyes meeting again instead. Smirking, Tony held up the ring box, all his nerves suddenly gone, taking out the ring itself and carefully slipping it on her left ring finger.

"Do you approve, Ms. Potts?" he asked quietly, watching her with a happy smile as she stared down at the ring in wonder.

"It's beautiful, Mr. Stark." she said reassuringly, wiping the tears out of her eyes with her other hand.

"Good." Tony said, leaning in to kiss her again, this time quickly, before he turned her around and started walking back the way they had come. "It's not far."

Her confusion abated when she saw a tablecloth and picnic basket set up on the sand that had certainly not been there the first time they had passed.

"I'm taking it that the others knew about this then?" she asked as they sat down, Tony popping open a bottle of champagne from the basket for them.

"They did." Tony confirmed, chuckling with a smirk as he poured two glasses, offering one to her. "Funny story about dinner."

"Oh?" Pepper asked with a grin, taking the glass she was offered. "I would have thought that you just bribed Clint into cooking again."

"Well, I originally bribed Clint into helping me so everything came out edible." Tony corrected, rolling his eyes when hers widened, obviously impressed. "But then I may or may not have set it on fire, and he may or may not have kicked me out and told me that I could take full credit. I think he just didn't want to have to explain how the place burned down."

Pepper was torn between laughing and giving an exasperated sigh, though eventually the laughter won out.

After they finished eating they packed up and went back inside, once again hand in hand. Back inside, the rest of the team was waiting with another bottle of champagne, which Clint helpfully popped open in their faces as soon as they walked in the door, also being the first one to congratulate them as they got over the surprise, the others not far behind.

Later that night, once everyone had retreated back into their rooms, Tony caught Pepper staring at her ring again as he climbed into bed and turned off the light, this time lost in thought. His arc reactor still provided a substantial glow as he pulled her closer to him on the bed under the blankets.

"What's on your mind?" he asked curiously, watching as she grinned and looked up to him, excitement in her eyes.

"I just never expected this." she admitted and Tony gave a cocky grin.

"Well yes, that was the general idea."

She gave him an exasperated glance before speaking again, twisting herself in his arms so she could better look at him.

"You know, I've been working with you for more than a decade, and now we're engaged, and my parents have never even met you."

"Huh." Tony said, absentmindedly using the arm she was laying on to lightly mess with her hair. "Do you think that my future-in-laws would be interested in rectifying that?"

"You're lucky I've been able to keep them off you this long." she informed him, only slightly teasing as she met his gaze, one eyebrow arched.

"You say that like I should be afraid, Ms. Potts." he said sarcastically, but she just gave a quiet snort and blinked at him.

"My father's a judge." she informed him tonelessly. "And my mother used to be an English professor."

"Sorry, Pep, but with my track record, not even protective judges and English professors scare me." he said in a teasing tone, waiting as she giggled quietly before he continued, adopting a slightly more serious tone. "Once we get back to New York, why don't you invite them to stay over for a week? There's a couple livable empty apartment floors they could use."

"I thought you didn't like sharing with others?" Pepper asked, though her tone was thoughtful as she considered the idea.

"Hmm, well maybe if I pretend to be hospitable now, maybe they won't show up to the wedding with shot guns and law enforcement." he said brightly, causing her to laugh again as she smacked his arm lightly. "Besides, you never actually take time off to go see them anyway. I'll even tell our motley group of misfits to be their best behavior."

"Oh?" Pepper asked, amused, and Tony nodded.

"I'm gonna hide Stalin's throwing knives, and buy Bruce a Zen garden. And bar Featherhead from the air ducts." he said matter of factly, smiling as Pepper again stifled giggles.

"And Steve and Thor?" she asked and Tony gave a dramatic sigh.

"There's nothing you can really do for Thor except ask him to use an inside voice. And I'm paying Capsicle off as babysitter."

* * *

**And there we have it, I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to tell me what you thought, and I swear that the next chapter will not take a week to get written and up.  
~Dogstar**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, guess what? I AM actually alive. It's a shock, I know. I am so sorry this took so long, a product of a variety of things some of which were my fault and some of which weren't. Either way, I'm back, and with chapter 9. The beginning of the chapter jumps around a bit, but towards the end, we start the conflict that will provide the action and drama for the final few chapters of the story. From here on out, I am taking creative license with Clint's past.**

**Anyway, a big thank you to all of you who have reviewed, alerted and favorited this story, you're all amazing, and you keep me writing. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which is a longer one.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

The few days before the team was due to leave Malibu passed unbelievably quickly as far as Tony was concerned.

He knew that Pepper had called her parents and extended the invitation he'd offered, and they had readily accepted and made plans to arrive in New York a week after the Avengers returned, which his new fiancée claimed would give her time to settle back into work and get things calmed down before her parents arrived. As far as he knew, she hadn't told them about the engagement yet, and he wasn't about to argue.

It was also mutually decided that they were going to keep their engagement out of the public eye, because while Tony was more than used to having every aspect of his life scrutinized by the press, Pepper was not, and certainly wasn't comfortable with it. As such, the only other people that were informed of the development were Happy and Rhodey, both of whom were appropriately excited for their friends. Rhodey had also thrown out the comment that "It was about damn time."

The day before they left, Thor had approached him, asking if he would be willing to stop the jet in New Mexico on their way back to New York, so that the demi-god could spend some time with Jane Foster. Tony hadn't minded, watching in slight amusement as happiness and gratitude dawned on the blonde Asgardian's face and he clapped him in what was probably supposed to be a friendly gesture on the back, but just sent him stumbling forward a few steps.

This time, Clint thankfully prepared ahead for the flight, making sure he had better entertainment than a makeshift paper projectile. He found a deck of cards and got Steve and Bruce to agree to help him teach Thor how to play poker. And then, seeing as Tony was then without someone to talk science with, he too joined in. Natasha sat down with them under the pretense of being able to beat them all easily.

It turned out to be a fairly plausible assumption.

Four hands later, they were all of the belief that there was no way in hell Natasha had beaten all of them every time without cheating. Even Clint was throwing her a speculative glance as Tony crossed his arms over his chest pouted, and Bruce assured Thor that no, games of poker weren't usually that quick.

"So I get blamed because all of you are so terrible at poker?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow and Steve sighed, looking up as Pepper spoke, clearly sounding amused.

"We're going to be landing in New Mexico in a few minutes." she told them, but Tony seemed to not even hear her words.

"I am not _terrible_ at poker." the billionaire said shortly, eyes narrowing slightly. "You _cheat_ at poker. There is a very distinct difference."

"Yeah, Nat, you should have told me if we were cheating. I could have ran these guys under a bus." Clint said lightly, and the Russian assassin rolled her eyes as everyone else gaped at Clint.

"Let me guess, you learned to play poker at the circus." Tony asked sarcastically, still not completely done pouting. Clint just waved a finger at him accusingly.

"Just because I say I know how to cheat, you assume that's where I learned? Not cool Stark." he said, eyes narrowing, but Tony just scoffed.

"Am I wrong?" he challenged, and Clint responded without skipping a beat as he plopped into a seat beside Natasha and buckled his seatbelt as the jet started to descend.

"Irrelevant. And it was a carnival."

That caused laughs from everyone, and a wry grin from the archer in question.

The group was meeting Jane for lunch, before the Avengers minus Thor would continue back to New York. When they arrived at the restaurant, the woman were already waiting for them, and the rest of the team and Pepper hung back to let Thor greet Jane first.

The love and affection the demi-god had for her was easily apparent, if any of them had any doubts from how incessantly he talked about her. He then waved the team over, grinning widely.

Tony stepped forward to Jane before Thor could start the introductions, which surprised no one, but did cause Bruce to give a sigh.

"Jane Foster, I'm Tony Stark." he said flippantly, offering his hand to the somewhat surprised woman. "And I'm pretty sure at this point I know more about you than you do. You're boyfriend doesn't shut up about you to be honest."

"Right." Jane said, slowly shaking his hand with a small smile on her face. "If we're being honest, I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm meeting Tony Stark."

Before Tony could give some flippant response, Pepper stepped up to his side and gave him a slight glare and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"If you embarrass Thor, you are sleeping on the couch for a week." she warned, and he stared at her with wide eyes, not having time to respond as she turned to Jane with a bright smile. "Dr. Foster, it's a pleasure to meet you. Pepper Potts."

"Oh, ah, you can just call me Jane." the younger woman said with a small smile, which Pepper readily returned.

She then steered Tony away so the rest of the team could take their spots.

"You know, I'm not even sure it's possible for Point Break to be embarrassed." Tony muttered mutinously under his breath, ignoring the level look Pepper sent him.

Lunch was enjoyable, even if Jane looked a little overwhelmed. It did seem however much that Thor talked about her to them, he talked about them just as much to her. Thor was _still_ grinning when they left, which led Tony to make a comment that had all of them laughing.

"I'm not sure if he's smiling like an idiot because he's with her, or because we're leaving."

* * *

Most of the week before the arrival of Pepper's parents was uneventful. The team didn't see much of Pepper, much to Tony's disappointment, due to the amount of work waiting for her back at Stark Industries after their vacation. Natasha and Clint were called out on a joint mission, leaving Steve, Bruce and Tony as the only ones really around the tower.

"It's too quiet." Tony announced suddenly one day at lunch, picking idly at his sandwich with a thoughtful frown.

Truthfully, he almost surprised himself with his words. Less than a year ago, his only occasional company would have been Pepper, maybe Rhodey, and JARVIS. The addition of Bruce, and then the rest of his rather rambunctious team of superheroes had been a shock to his system, but it seemed he had grown very used to it. Used to it enough to almost miss it.

"Are Steve and I not enough company for you, Tony?" Banner asked wryly with a raised eyebrow as Steve looked up curiously as well.

Tony just gave a slight scoff and waved off the almost accusing question.

"You know what I mean." he insisted. "Come on, admit it. The place feels empty."

"Tony, with you here, I don't know if anyone could consider it 'empty'." Steve said matter of factly, his amused expression making it clear he was joking, but Tony looked insulted either way.

"I take offense to that, Spangles." he said shortly, giving a slight huff as Bruce patted him calmingly on the shoulder.

"Alright, alright. Yes, Tony, you're right. Without Thor, Clint and Natasha is does seem much quieter around here." the doctor said appeasingly, and Tony smirked and returned to his sandwich.

"_Someone_ agrees with me." he sniffed, smirk widening as Steve rolled his eyes.

Two days before Pepper's parents were due to arrive and five after they had left, Clint and Natasha walked silently off the elevator into the common area outside their rooms, making Bruce and Steve look up. Before either could say a word, they noticed how stiff and tense both assassins were, and how distant they were from each other.

"Did… everything go okay?" Steve asked slowly, sitting up straighter from where he had been relaxed on the couch with his sketch book. It certainly wasn't normal to see them acting like they were now. He wasn't even sure he could describe it, but he could almost see their aggravation at one another on the blank expressions they were wearing.

"Just fine." Clint said sarcastically, tone dark and clipped, pausing on the other side of the couches to talk to Steve while Natasha brushed past him towards her room, not saying a word. "I just apparently need to reevaluate my judgment is all."

As both Steve and Bruce gave shocked blinks of surprise, Natasha spun around, door to her room already open but pausing just outside.

"Damnit, Barton, don't you dare blow this off. We were right, and you know it." she hissed, and Clint turned to face her, eyes narrowing.

"I had a clear shot, and you stepped right in front of it." he said shortly.

"Which would have drawn everyone else right to your position." she spat, not at all backing down from the look that would have had half of SHIELD's agents retreating. "Hendrickson was in your ear practically shouting for you not to take the shot, and you were going to do it anyway."

"_Hendrickson_ has never been in the field, much less as a distance assassin." Clint retorted, both ignoring the two stunned older men. "I knew what I was doing, Romanoff. I would have been gone before the target hit the ground."

"We couldn't take that risk. There were too many of them. You got your orders." Natasha told him, but he just rolled his eyes ad scoffed.

"Right, is that how you're going to play this? Since when have either of us given a shit about orders at that point in a mission? If Hendrickson had been telling you to stand down are you telling me you would have done it?" Clint demanded and Natasha took a small step back, glaring slightly. "That's right, you wouldn't have. I had my shot, I could have taken it. Instead I had to spend another twelve hours searching out another vantage point while you stayed down there with the leader of a ring of assassins."

"Your _shot_ could have gotten you killed." Natasha said, the first hints of anger entering her tone. "We both knew there were snipers in the area."

The argument was stopped abruptly when the elevator doors opened again, Tony stepping out with a smirk.

"Hey, JARVIS told me Legolas and Stalin were back." he said lightly, just as he caught sight of the way the two were facing off with one another, stiff backed and obviously angry, and the shocked expressions of Steve and Bruce. "Okay." he said slowly, eyes widening slightly. "What happened?"

Natasha made another angry hissing sound and spun to go into her room, slamming her door behind her with a resounding bang. Clint scoffed and turned sharply to disappear into his room as well without another word.

Shocked silence blanketed the room for a handful of moments after both assassins had gone their separate ways, before Tony turned slowly to the other two men.

"What the hell?" he demanded. "I seriously didn't even think it was possible for those two to be legitimately pissed at each other… The world's ending , isn't it? We're all going to die."

"Tony." Steve reprimanded sharply, the glance he tossed to the billionaire disapproving.

"From what I gathered from their argument," Bruce broke in calmly, looking to Tony. "Natasha stepped in Clint's shot at their target because it was, debatably, risky. He was also ignoring the orders of the agent I'm guessing was acting as their handler. Clint says the shot was perfectly fine, and there you have the roots of the problem, I think."

"Uh huh." Tony moved to lean back against the arm of one of the couches, his head tilting to the side consideringly as he looked to the two assassin's doors. "Well, I still say we're screwed."

Steve gave an exasperated sigh as Bruce gave a half shrug, half nod.

Clint reemerged first, looking like nothing at all had happened. He sat down in front of the TV with Steve to play a round of video games, Bruce and Tony having retreated back into the lab. Natasha didn't come out of her room until Bruce went to get her for dinner.

To an outsider, they would have seen nothing wrong between the two assassins. But to the other three Avengers, the distance between them was obvious and tense. Not once during the entire meal did they speak directly to one another, or meet the other's gaze. Towards Tony, Steve, and Bruce, however, they seemed to act normally; typical banter and conversation sprouting up effortlessly.

When they were done eating, however, they spilt away again with Natasha heading towards the elevator and Clint stopping beside Steve.

"I'm thinking about going for a run. Want to come?" the archer offered and the Captain instantly nodded an agreement, standing to put his plate away as well.

Minutes later, both had changed into more comfortable running clothes and were exiting Stark Tower, into the frosted air of New York City. It wasn't snowing at the moment, but the ground was more or less covered. The sun was just finishing its dip below the horizon, and that accompanied with the cold had the sidewalks much clearer than usual.

"Central Park?" Steve offered and Clint nodded absent-mindedly, motioning for the Captain to take the lead. Steve gave him a slightly concerned look before taking off at a fast jog, the younger man a half step to his right and behind him.

While Steve went for a run every morning, almost like clockwork, Clint typically only joined him after nights where the nightmares had been worse. The Captain didn't mind, understanding that the younger man needed to clear his head, and seemed to enjoy the companionable silence that he offered. Every time he was sure to ask if Clint wanted to talk about whatever was haunting him, but to date he hadn't gotten a positive answer. That didn't stop him from hoping that one day the archer would trust him enough to confide in him. This run, despite its atypical timing, wasn't going to be any different.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered simply, maybe fifteen minutes into their run, breath visibly puffing out in front of both of them in even rhythms. By then, Clint had taken up the spot directly at his side, eyes flicking around them systematically.

"Not really." Clint responded in the same tone, after a few short beats of consideration.

Steve gave a single nod and continued on wordlessly. The few moments' pause had been new, as opposed to the quick, usually wordless and immediate shake of his head. He counted it as an improvement and moved on.

* * *

The next day, nothing seemed to have changed in the two assassins' attitudes towards one another. Clint spent the majority of the day down in Tony's lab with the billionaire and Bruce, for the most part watching what they were up to from above. Neither seemed to mind, occasionally pulling him into their conversation. It was clear that Tony at least was curious as to what else was behind Clint and Natasha's continuing disagreement, unwilling to believe that something seeming as simple as a fouled shot could have caused such a deep rift between two people that were typically so deeply connected.

However, Clint wasn't talking, eyes narrowing into a slight glare when the topic was brought up, and he really didn't feel like searching out Natasha, only to likely get the same – or a worse – reaction.

Tony was forced to steer his thoughts away from the somewhat troubling and very interesting predicament between Natasha and Clint the next afternoon, considering Pepper's parents were due to arrive at the Tower in only hours. The team, including a recently returned Thor, were getting out of their hair for dinner, leaving Tony to help Pepper finish up cooking.

Currently, however, he all he was really doing was ferrying things to the table under Pepper's direction. He could tell she was starting to get nervous; talking quickly and generally doing things that he had come to correlate with an anxious Pepper Potts.

"Pep." he said quickly, catching her shoulders as he came back into the kitchen, and meeting her gaze as she spoke.

"Tony, really, there's a lot I need to do, so-,"

He cut her off before she could go any farther, tone light.

"Pepper, relax." he said, giving her a charming smile when she relented and did so, a small smile of her own playing on her lips. "I am directly involved. Everything will be absolutely fine. You haven't seen them in forever; enjoy it."

She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling wider as his moved loosely to her waist.

"Only because you are so confident, Mr. Stark." she told him in a mock serious tone, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I am, Ms. Potts. Because you are directly involved as well, and that's a better indicator than even me being involved." he told her and she mirrored his expression, both still unmoving.

"Is that so?" she asked, tone almost teasing but he just smirked wryly.

"Typically, yes." he agreed, before pulling back slightly. "Except for that security thing with _my_ elevator. Still not over it."

She scoffed and playfully smacked him on the arm, turning away as she spoke. "You know, I'm still waiting for that tower with my name on the lease."

"Funnily enough, looks like it's still going to say Stark." he said brightly, considering the woman that had given a quiet laugh to his words as she checked on whatever was in the oven.

If he was honest with himself, _he_ was a little nervous meeting Pepper's parents. Mainly because there were a thousand and one reasons for them not to like him, not even counting his multiple major personality flaws. He hid that from her though, completely determined not to screw anything up for the next week. Pepper's family was important to her, and the last thing he wanted was to stress her out even more than he already did on a daily basis because of familial tension. He was jerked out of his thoughts by JARVIS' voice a few moments later.

'_Sir, the Potts' have arrived. They are coming up the elevator as we speak.'_ the AI informed him and he gave a slight nod, taking the pan that Pepper passed him to put onto the table.

"Thanks for the heads up, J." Tony said, looking to Pepper speculatively. "Here's to hoping I don't screw this up."

"Oh, Tony." the woman said with an exasperated roll of her eyes. "You'll be fine. They'll love you."

She then proceeded to grab his arm and lightly pull him closer to the elevator, just as it whirred to a stop and dinged its arrival. As the doors slid open, Tony got his first look at its two occupants.

Pepper's father was a medium height, stocky-built man with dark hair heavily flecked with silver and green eyes. Her mother was taller with wispy blonde hair and kind blue eyes. Both were looking around curiously as they stepped out of the elevator, their eyes finding Pepper moments later.

"Oh, Virginia, it's so good to see you!" the older woman gushed, rushing forward and pulling and equally happy Pepper into a tight embrace. "You've been so busy; it's been ages."

"I know, I'm so happy you could come." Pepper told her, before moving to hug her father as well, who had carted the luggage out of the elevator, while Tony hung back silently.

"So are we." the older man said gruffly, giving her a smile as they pulled apart, before looking around again with a vaguely impressed expression. "Do you live here?"

"The top few floors are private living space. The rest is office space and other odds and ends for Stark Industries." Tony cut in easily before Pepper could respond, taking a step forward and offering the man his hand. "Tony Stark."

"Jack Potts." Pepper's father gave a nod, looking Tony up and down with slightly narrowed eyes and shaking his hand easily, before nodding to the woman beside him. "My wife, Marie."

Tony grinned and gave her a slight bow.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." he told her, grin widening as she smiled at him.

"And you as well, Mr. Stark." she returned, but Tony just gave a small, dismissive wave of his hand.

"Tony's fine." he smirked at Pepper as she moved to stand at his side, speaking as she did.

"Dinner's ready, unless you want some time to wash up." she prompted easily, and Jack cast a glance to the kitchen.

"I'm starved." he said matter of factly, looking to his side to see his wife nodding agreement. "How 'bout dinner?"

"Read my mind." Tony said quickly. "Just leave your bags there, we'll get them later."

"Where will we be staying?" Marie asked curiously as they moved to the table, pulling out chairs and easily sitting down, each couple on one side.

"There's an empty apartment floor ready for you on fifty…" Tony trailed off with a slight frown, before looking to Pepper for help.

"Fifty-seven." she supplied, with a slight shake of her head as she handed her mother a spoon for the potatoes.

"Fifty-seven." Tony said brightly, looking back to the older couple and causing Jack to give a quiet snort, and Marie's eyes t widen slightly.

"We get a whole floor to ourselves?" she asked and Tony gave an absent-minded nod as he put food onto his plate before glancing back up and responding verbally.

"Yep. Bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and fully stocked kitchen." he explained.

Talk idly drifted as they ate, Pepper mostly catching up with her parents talking about family and her job, which Tony quickly lost interest in. He would be the first to say that he found Pepper's job extremely boring. That was one of the major reasons he'd given it to her in the first place. His main contribution to the conversation was his statement that he probably couldn't get through three days without the beautiful woman he now got to call his fiancée. Of course, that last part was said in his head, seeing as the older couple hadn't yet been made aware of their engagement.

"Tony,"

He was pulled out of his thoughts of the new suit designs he and Bruce were working on by Pepper's slightly irritated voice.

"Sorry." he said quickly, though he didn't at all sound it, looking up and around. "What were we saying?"

"I was asking how the company's green technology was advancing." Jack informed him and Tony gave a single nod, tilting his head a little to the side.

"Swimmingly." he said simply. "The reactor running this building was the prototype, and we've experienced almost no problems."

Pepper made a quiet humming noise under her breath and Tony turned to her quickly, raising one finger.

"I still firmly maintain that that little incident was Thor's fault." he said before she could actually comment, making her grin at him innocently. "I've been doing some final tweaking to what will hopefully be a more permanent design before I install it in the next few months. This model was only made to run for a year anyway. I won't bore you with the more technical details."

"What else is Stark Industries working on?" Jack asked and Tony gave a slight shrug.

"At this point, it's mostly the green energy stuff. Personally I dabble in all kinds of fun stuff, but it's nothing commercially available." he explained and the older man nodded acceptance.

As the meal drew closer to an end, Tony noticed Marie watching him curiously. Or, not him so much as the glowing circle of light in his chest that was visible beneath his shirt.

Once she seemed to realize she'd be noticed she blushed slight before quickly moving to apologize.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare, it's just… what is that?" Marie asked, effectively gaining the attention of both Pepper and her father, and causing them to follow her gaze.

"No, it's alright." Tony said quickly, giving a tight smirk. "I'm glowing. It'd typically be a legitimate cause for concern." he cast a quick glance to Pepper, seeing her give him a slightly apologetic glance, but he just gave her a small shrug. He had nothing to hide from Pepper's parents, his future in-laws. "You know the big, glowing thing in the chest plate of the Iron Man suit? It's doesn't just power the suit. It's kind of a part of me."

He pulled down the collar of his t-shirt with some difficulty to reveal the circular arc reactor, tapping on it for emphasis and ignoring the way their eyes had widened into shock.

"A few years back, I was too close to a missile that detonated. Shrapnel lodged itself in my chest a handful of millimeters from my heart. Inoperable. This thing is basically an electromagnet that keeps the shrapnel out of my heart, and thus, me alive." he kept his tone light, looking up and fixing his shirt once he had finished his explaination. Seeing the still slack-jawed expressions of the older couple, he continued, attempting to lighten the mood. "It's pretty much a built in nightlight. Great for midnight snack runs."

He wasn't terribly surprised when no one laughed, highly doubting that either Jack or Marie was comfortable enough with something that dire, especially after just meeting him, to joke about it.

The silent tension was broken when JARVIS' voice sounded from above them, greatly startling the Potts'.

'_Sir, Captain Rogers is calling.'_ the AI informed him coolly, and Tony ignored Pepper's hushed explaination to her parents as he responded, taking his and Pepper's empty plates to the sink.

"Go ahead and patch him through, JARVIS." he said, wondering if the team had managed to get into trouble in the few hours since they'd left the tower. "What's up, Capsicle?"

'_Can we come home yet?'_ Steve's voice sounded strained with a mixture of aggravation and amusement. _'Clint had the bright idea to introduce Thor to an arcade, Natasha has taken to following him around to make sure he doesn't break anything. Clint has taken to the shooting range, where Bruce has tried to keep him from betting with his aim.'_

"Ouch. Sounds like you've got a full plate." Tony said, voice accented by amused mirth as he grinned at Pepper, who gave a quick empathetic nod. "My recommendation is to keep Bruce away from screaming children. They'll give him a headache, and then he'll be easily aggravated. And why are you guys trying to stop Legolas from betting against people? That's easy money."

'_That's not fair, Tony.'_ Steve said impatiently, and Pepper spoke up quickly before the argument could escalate.

"Steve, go ahead and bring everyone back. We've finished dinner." she told him kindly, and he gave a relieved sigh.

'_Thanks, Pepper.'_ he said before hanging up.

"Come on, that could have proved interesting." Tony complained, walking back over to the table to stand behind Pepper, putting his hands on her shoulders and just smiling unashamedly at her disapproving glance.

"What was that voice?" Jack spoke up, sounding confused, and Tony turned to him, practically throwing himself back into his chair.

"Oh, that was just JARVIS. He's an artificial intelligence system I designed and programmed. Hooked up to most every electronic in the tower, and monitoring the security systems. Kinda like a butler type of thing. Say hi to the Potts', JARVIS."

'_Greetings, Mr. and Mrs. Potts.'_ the AI chimed in obediently almost instantly. _'It would be my pleasure to assist you during your stay in the tower.'_

"He's also a suck up." Tony added in mildly with a smirk.

'_Might I remind you who programmed me, sir?'_ JARVIS responded, and the billionaire cast a quick glare to the ceiling as Pepper laughed quietly.

"Shut up, JARVIS." he muttered.

'_Of course, sir.'_

"That's amazing." Marie said, sounding slightly awed. "You did it yourself?"

Tony nodded as Pepper gathered her parents' plates and moved them to the sink as well.

"I came up with the first model when I was a teenager, and I've been updating him ever since. _Virtually_ unhackable."

Jack gave an impressed grunt before voicing a question. "So who's coming?"

"The rest of my team lives here too." Tony explained with a grin. "I sent them out for a few hours so we could have a relatively peaceful dinner. But if we don't let them back now, bad things could happen. And while I think it'd be amusing as hell, the NYPD might not agree with me."

"So you live with an entire team of superheroes?" Jack directed his surprised question to Pepper who smiled with a nod.

"It can get a little hectic." she admitted, and her parents shared a glance that Tony wasn't quite sure how to interpret.

Only a little over ten minutes later, JARVIS announced that the rest of the team was on its way up in the elevator. The older couple jumped a little at the sudden voice, but Pepper just grin and invited them over to the elevator again. It opened only moments later, revealing a bickering group of five. They quieted quickly as soon as the pair was noticed, and it was Steve that stepped forward easily first, offering his hand with a sheepish smile.

"You must be Pepper's parents. Steve Rogers, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Pepper and Tony stepped back as the rest of the team went about introducing themselves, following Steve's example.

"So how'd I do?" Tony muttered to her quietly, giving a slight wince as Thor gave Jack his customary, friendly hug of greeting, complete with pound on the back.

"Good boy." Pepper smirked, lightly patting his arm as it snaked around her waist.

"Do I get a treat later?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows seductively.

She smacked his arm in response, glance disapproving, just as Clint all but appeared on her other side, expression blank as he faced her.

"Pepper, did your father happen to be a prosecutor in Philadelphia about seven years ago?" the archer asked in low tones and Pepper tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Yes, but he's a judge now. Why?" she asked, expression now almost worried as Clint bowed his head with a string of muttered curses.

"What's the problem, Barton?" Tony demanded, but before Clint could respond, Jack and Marie walked up, eyeing Clint's back curiously.

"And who's this?" Marie asked lightly, her eyes still bright with amusement brought on by Thor's greeting.

"Shit." Clint muttered under his breath, before he raised his head, steeled his shoulders and turned around to meet Jack Pott's gaze. "Clint Barton." he said stiffly, not bothering to offer his hand.

When his eyes met the green ones of the older man, he was instantly transported back seven years, sitting moodily in a Philadelphia precinct interrogation room as an eighteen year old, telling this same man that he hadn't touched Lewis Jacobson, when in all actuality, he had snapped the man's neck a week prior. It had been a messy hit; too messy. It had gotten him caught, and this man had gotten him convicted. Not that he blamed the man, of course.

And clearly, Jack remembered him too.

While Clint was reliving the old memory, he pushed his wife back and moved to step in front of her, eyes narrowing.

"You're supposed to be in prison." he said shortly, eyes flashing as he looked Clint over and the entire room fell silent.

"My record was expunged." Clint said in an identical tone, not so much as twitching a muscle and keeping his face empty of all emotion. "Sorry to break it to you, but I was only in prison for three-four months. Then I got a job offer."

"Who would hire an eighteen year old convicted murderer from federal prison?" Jack demanded, disbelief coloring his tone.

"A secret government agency with a need for my skill set." Clint said tonelessly, eyes still locked onto Jack so he didn't have to look at the other shocked faces in the room. Only Natasha's face was blank, eyes turned to him.

"A government agency that needed a murderer?" Jack scoffed and Clint felt his jaw clench, a dangerous spark forming in his eyes.

"I prefer the term assassin. And yes. Seeing as they did expunge my record, and have kept me employed since." he bit out easily, still keeping his every emotion carefully hidden. The last thing he wanted was to make things difficult for Pepper and Tony, but somehow, he didn't see Jack Potts backing down off of this, if he was still anything like he had been as a prosecutor.

"Of course you'd prefer that." the older man all but sneered contemptuously, following Clint's lead in ignoring everyone else. "But that is what you do, isn't it? Kill people for money and get away with it?"

"Judge me all you want, that is what _you_ do. But do not pretend to know anything about me or what I do." Clint growled, the first subtle hints of anger gracing his tone, chin raising a fractional amount in a defiant gesture.

"I know plenty." Jack wasn't at all fazed by the archer's demeanor, or if he was, he didn't show it. "I know your parents died when you were six in a car crash. I know you don't have past a fourth grade education because you and your brother ran away from your adoptive parents to the circus. I can't prove, but I'm pretty sure that you enlisted almost two years early into the Army, only to desert your unit a year and a half later to avoid prison time for that after your C.O. found out about your age. And I can almost guarantee that you killed more people as a hired gun than the one I put you away for."

Clint stiffened to the point that it was almost painful, keeping his expression carefully neutral, but inwardly flinching away violently as his entire past was laid out neatly for everyone in the room. He knew the only reason the man had managed to find so much information was because he had done the digging before SHIELD had wiped his public records. Even so, the only one that had been aware of his past before this point had been Natasha, and this was definitely not how he had wanted to give his story to the team, if he ever wanted to at all.

The others watched silently, not knowing at all what to say as the archer's walls raised around himself visibly, for the first time around them in months, his eyes shuttering and darkening. They all knew with almost horrifying clarity how hard they would have to work to get their friend out of his shell again.

"It's a bit obsessive, don't you think?" Clint asked in a cool, hardened voice after a few minutes of tense silence. "To remember all of that after seven years?"  
"You can't really blame me for taking an interest in an eighteen year old kid that could kill as well as you." Jack said matter of factly. "You've sure got these people fooled. You're no hero; you're a cold-blooded killer."

Clint gave no outward reaction to the man's words, but felt them hit home inside him, ringing in his ears.

Natasha gave a low, furious hiss at those words, sounding not unlike a cat, that had everyone turning to her warily. However heated the disagreement between them, it seemed it wasn't enough to make her look past that. Not one of the other Avengers seemed pleased either, but all of them combined couldn't compare to any angry Black Widow.

"Well, if you would excuse me, I think I'm done here." Clint said in clipped tones, brushing past Jack, Marie, and Steve to stalk stiffly into the kitchen.

While the older couple seemed confused by his direction, the rest of the people in the room weren't. The kitchen happened to house the nearest and most easily accessible air vent to their current location.

"Aw hell." Tony muttered, watching the archer's movements with unmasked concern on his face. "We're never getting him out of there."

"Not in the near future, no." Bruce agreed, a clearly audible undertone of anger to his voice that no one missed.

* * *

**So what do you all think? Like it? Hate it? Let me know, I'm always happy to get a review. Next chapter coming up soon.  
~Dogstar**


	10. Chapter 10

**I know, it's a shock, this chapter is actually out in under a week. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted and favorited this story, it means a lot to know I have the support of all of you readers. Speaking of reviews, do you people realize that you've given me more than 150 reviews for this story? And it's not even done yet! So thank you so much.**

**Moving on to the story, there's going to be somewhere around 2-4 chapters left, depending on what I decide to put in what chapter and such. I got many reviews asking what the rest of the team's reactions to Jack Potts' actions would be, and we get to see more of that in this chapter. Also in this chapter, we get a lot more. Clint/Natasha. You've been warned.**

**Here's chapter 10, and I hope you enjoy.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

"Jack… what?" Marie was the first to break the thick silence that descended over the room, aside from the heated-sounding, hushed conversation between Tony and Steve.

"I put him away for murder seven years ago." Jack said, tone and expression softening as he looked to his wife. "Lewis Jacobson. Prominent business man in a very competitive market. Was walking to his car in a parking garage after work when Barton went and snapped his neck. Luckily enough, a young female assistant that forgot something in the office was walking by and saw. Barton noticed her and bolted, but we found his prints on a railing. Caught up with him a week later and got an easy conviction."

"People sometimes make bad decisions, Mr. Potts, and I doubt you are any different." Natasha said coolly, taking a small step forward to stand more in front of the older man while completely ignoring the wary glance that passed between Bruce and Steve, while Tony gave a small snort of what sounded like agreement. "You may have listed his past, but you know nothing about him or the circumstances that led to those decisions. Clint has taken his second chance and has done the most he possibly could with it. He has saved countless lives, including mine on multiple occasions – and if you want to get technical – yours, your wife's and your daughter's. You have no idea how far off the mark you are."

The boiling anger that Natasha was feeling was kept carefully bottled beneath her cold, stoic mask. She knew how much those words would drill into Clint and eat at him; rip open barely healed wounds.

"I-," Jack started, his tone defensive, but Pepper cut across him, tone sharp and almost disbelieving.

"Natasha's right." she said quickly, taking her own small step closer. "It's been seven years since that happened, and he's been living here for months."

"You mean you knew what he had done?" Jack demanded, eyes widening, and Pepper shook her head slightly as she sighed.

"Of course. He's an assassin, but that doesn't automatically make him a bad person." she said matter of factly, before looking to Tony as he stepped up beside her, not at all looking pleased.

"And just where do you think you get the right to attack him like that in his own home?" the billionaire demanded, but before he could continue to the now very shocked looking Jack Potts, Pepper touched a hand to his arm and met his gaze with a deeply apologetic expression.

"Let's just… I'll show them where they're staying, give everyone some time to cool down."

The five Avengers remaining in the room were silent while Pepper waved her parents over to the elevator, carting their luggage back into it as well. As soon as the three were gone, Tony spun around, the anger in his expression melting into poorly masked worry.

"This is going to be a hell of a week." Bruce said wearily, and Tony sighed in response, running a hand down the back of his head.

"The last place Clint should feel uncomfortable is in his own home; I mean that was bad enough. We'll be lucky if we ever convince him to come out of the air ducts. Maybe I should talk to Pepper about-,"

Natasha cut him off with a sharp shake of her head, the anger burning in her eyes more pronounced now that she was only around the team.

"No, he knows how important this is to you and to Pepper. If you tell them to leave, the only thing it's going to do is make him feel guiltier." she informed them, no doubt in her voice. "It will be bad enough that he' start believing what that man said, and that you all heard it."

"But we don't believe that." Steve said firmly, shoulders tensing slightly. "It couldn't be further from the truth."

Natasha gave a sigh, and Thor spoke up in an unusually low voice, putting a light hand on the Russian assassin's shoulder.

"Lady Natasha, perhaps you should find and try to talk to the Hawk. You are likely the only one he will let close in this state." he said and Natasha gave a slight nod, making for the stairs. He would either be in the gym or on the roof, if he wasn't holed up in the corner of some air duct, and he'd be less likely to run before she could talk if he didn't hear her approach.

"So should we tell him that she's an assassin too, and that I turn into a giant, green rage monster now and get it all over with at once?" Bruce asked lightly, turning to Tony, who gave a dramatic groan and moved towards the bar.

"And people wonder why I prefer science to human beings." he muttered under his breath. "I need a drink."

* * *

Natasha silently moved into the training gym, her first cursory examination revealing no sign of Clint. When she glanced up to the rafters, however, it took her well-trained eyes only moments to spot him laying along one of the longer metal beams on his stomach, arms and legs wrapped lightly around it. To a passerby, he seemed almost casually relaxed, but she could see the lines of tension in his back, and in how completely still he kept himself.

She knew he had already seen her, but he made no acknowledgement. She didn't expect him to at this point, instead lithely making her own way into the rafters.

She wasn't nearly as graceful as he was and couldn't navigate the narrow strips of metal with the same confidence, but she could manage. Carefully, she sat herself by his head, leaning against the support beam that led to the ceiling. She didn't say anything at first, giving him the time to leave if he wanted to; to continue his pointed silence towards her that he had adopted since their explosive argument outside their rooms after they had returned from their mission.

Explosive by their terms, anyway. Neither assassin was known for raising their voice when angry, able to convey much more in a low, predatorial tone than any shout ever could.

To be completely fair, she had been avoiding even looking in his direction for the past two days as well.

To her relief, however, when he slowly moved into a sitting position, eyes still slightly downcast, he didn't move from in front of her and he spoke quietly.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing." she answered simply and truthfully. "I gave him a few choice words. Pepper and Tony had some too. The only reason he's still here is because we know that if Tony does kick him out, you'd just feel more guilty."

"Nat, it's Pepper's father. Tony's future father-in-law. I don't want to-," he started, sounding aggravated with himself, but Natasha just shushed him quietly, gently raising his head so their gazes met.

A whole new round of hurt and anger rolled through her to see the protective walls of cold indifference he'd pulled around himself; the same ones that she had seen as his near-constant companions from the night she met him on the snowy rooftop in a small German village, until he had finally relaxed around the team only a few months before. He hid himself underneath a cold, hard gaze, indifferent features, and a dangerous atmosphere that kept most everyone at bay. She had never been fazed by it, but the sudden reappearance of that attitude only made her angrier.

"Clint, this is _your home_." she said firmly, holding his gaze. "You should be comfortable here. He had no right to say what he did, especially seeing as it _wasn't_ true."

Clint said nothing in response, but she could see in his eyes that he wasn't in complete agreement.

"Feel like sparring?" she asked after a few minutes of silence between them, drawing her hand back from where it had been under his chin.

Without another glance to him, she dropped down to the floor lightly, unsurprised to see him land beside her only a heartbeat later. Wordlessly, they moved the sparring mat and within moments were locked into a vicious fight, throwing and blocking carefully calculated blows. They never aimed to avoid injury; they fought in every sense of the word, leaving no skill unused.

"Can we stop lying to each other and ourselves?" Clint asked shortly after nearly ten minutes as he flipped over her, slamming both feet between her shoulder blades before she could turn, pitching her forward.

Natasha came out of the resulting roll in a ready crouch, blocking three sharp punches aimed for her temple.

"Excuse me?" she asked in confusion, returning with her own flurry of blows, one spinning kick connecting with her partner's shoulder.

"Come on, Tasha." he said, sounding almost exasperated, feigning to stumble because of the hit and grabbing the wrist that she swung at him; twisting it up and behind her until her shoulder threatened to come out of its socket. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. The only reason we've been fighting for the past two days."

With a grunt, she shot her legs up and wrapped them around his neck, flipping him onto his back on the mat and causing him to release her arm. He rolled to the side before she could connect a kick to his ribs, flipping to his feet just in time to block another kick to his head.

"The only reason either of us had a problem, or lack thereof, with that shot." he continued without her response, launching his own attack and swiping her legs out from beneath her before twisting behind her as she regained her feet and balance and wrapping a strong arm around her neck in an inescapable headlock and pulling her back against him, using his other arm to pin her struggling arms to her sides. "I care about you, and you care about me. We can't just keep dancing around the issue, Tasha, or more problems like this are going to keep cropping up."

She gave a long sigh, and lightly tapped her fingers against his thigh, making him release her instantly. He took a small step back and lowered himself onto the mat, blinking up at her.

"What are you trying to say, Clint?" she asked, though her tone suggested she already knew, and he could tell she was already pulling back from both him and the conversation. She was wary, and he completely understood, but he was going to finish what he wanted to say. He'd gotten this far.

"That I love you, Natasha." he said, sounding much calmer about the words than he expressly felt.

"Clint…" she said, her tone warning as her head shook slowly and she lowered herself onto the mat in front of him.

"It's about time one of us said it." he said, not at all retracting his words.

"Love is for children." she said softly, though her words weren't at all confident and now it was her gaze that was lowered.

"Natasha." he said gently, moving forward to take her hand and locking his gaze with hers. "I know how hard this is for you; I understand and you know I do. I'm not asking you to jump into this with me like an idiot, I'm just asking if we can give me and you a try. If we can try being honest with ourselves for a change."

They were both silent for a long time, unmoving with their eyes expressing everything they didn't need to say.

"I would never do anything to hurt you." he said quietly, and she gave him a slightly incredulous look.

"I know that." she said as if it was obvious, though her uncertainty was still visible in her eyes.

"So why not do something _normal_ for once?" he pressed, not moving a muscle as he waited for her response.

Finally, Natasha took her free hand and gently cupped his face before hesitantly and slowly leaning forward and kissing him carefully. Clint snaked an arm around her waist, returning the kiss just as gently. After a few moments, Natasha pulled back slightly, moving her gaze to meet his again.

"I have been yours for quite some time, мой ястреб, but admitting it to myself has been hard enough." she said quietly, her gaze searching the soft happiness and affection in his eyes, the darkness having receded somewhat. "But you're right. We need to be honest to each other if no one else. But we'll have to be careful. And SHIELD can't know."

"No." Clint agreed, snorting when he thought of how Fury would react to knowing that his two best assassins were in a relationship. Not that the director didn't likely already suspect. Most everyone did. "Nat, I've been acting with your interests before mine in the field for years already; admitting our feelings isn't going to change that."

She sighed, shaking her head slightly as if aggravated before moving to sit more or less beside him with his arm around her shoulders and her head resting lightly on his chest.

"Clint," she spoke up quietly after another few moments of silence and the archer turned his eyes to look down at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. "I love you too." the words came easier than she expected. She hadn't even expressly _meant_ to say it out loud. And yet, after she did, she felt a heaviness disappear from her chest, and a small smile toyed on her lips.

His arm tightened around her shoulders and a grin formed on his face as he pressed his lips lightly to her hair in response.

"But I have to wonder," she spoke up again, turning her head so their gazes could meet. "What in the world made you decide to bring this up now?"

Almost instantly, his eyes darkened again; visibly shuttered; shutting even her out.

"Thinking about you is a hell of a lot better that thinking about Jack Potts." he said stiffly, lowering his gaze after a few moments, but Natasha just twisted in his arm, cupping his face again.

"Don't shut me out, Clint." she said firmly. "What he said wasn't true, you know that."

"Do I?" Clint asked stiffly, making Natasha sigh.

"You should." she said matter of factly. "You know what you've done. Both before and _after_ he put you into prison. And I know what he said about your past has been more than eating at you. The others… They won't care."

Again, Clint sighed, pulling more in on himself and looking not at all convinced, and Natasha could see it. Before she could continue, however, he pulled away and leapt to his feet, looking down to her with a questioning gaze.

"Want to spar again?" he asked, effectively changing the subject completely.

She bowed her head for a moment, giving it a slight shake, though she knew getting him to sit back down and talk to her until she agreed wasn't going to happen. Not only did she need to agree, but she had to win. That'd be the only way she got him to sit still long enough to actually talk to her about what he was letting get to him. So she fluidly rose to her feet as well before glancing to where he stood a few feet away, watching her with a small, tight smirk.

She returned it before spinning into action, unsurprised when he simply twisted around the kick she had aimed for his head.

This match lasted much longer than their first, their flips, blocks and attacks becoming much more intricate and fast paced. Tony had once called the pair of them sparring an intricate dance of death. Both had to admit their agreement. After maybe half an hour, Natasha landed a solid kick to Clint's stomach, doubling him over slightly, which allowed her to flit lightly onto his back, hooking both arms behind him in what amounted to more or less inescapable holds. Smirking when he grunted and tensed to roll beneath her, she shoved her knee into his back, off-balancing him and causing him to stumble, and then with more of her help, knock the air completely out of his lungs as he landed heavily on his stomach, arms still held behind him.

Moments later, she felt his fingers lightly tap her arm and she released him, moving to sit beside him as he simply rolled over onto his back, glancing to her as he propped his head up on one arm.

"It's not that I blame him for putting me in prison." Clint started lightly, his tone almost thoughtful, though his eyes were still hard. "He was right to, I know that. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if he hadn't. Who knows if Coulson would have caught up with me if I had kept taking contracts, or if I would have listened to him even if he had? At least in prison I had no choice but to jump at the chance, even if I didn't trust him at all."

"You always had a choice." Natasha corrected him, tilting her head slightly when he just shook his slowly. "You made the right one."

"I made the one that benefited me." he said tonelessly. "Federal prison and 18 year old assassins don't exactly mix well, Tasha. I was in and out of the infirmary the entire time, trying to protect myself from bastards bigger than me that wanted me to take care of their problems."

Natasha hid her wince of sympathy expertly, even though she knew he could see it in her eyes anyway. He seemed to ignore it, continuing to speak, his eyes watching the ceiling blankly.

"And you, you'd probably still be taking contracts." he pointed out, but she snorted tonelessly.

"Give SHIELD some credit, I'd be dead by now." she said matter of factly, which just made Clint frown, to which she raised an eyebrow. "Clint, we both know that you are the only reason I am alive; the only reason SHIELD reluctantly gave me a chance."

"So I guess we can't really fault Jack Potts that much, hmm?" Clint asked rhetorically, his expression smoothing into emotionlessness again.

Natasha simply scowled in response, her eyes narrowing. That was not at all the conclusion she wanted him to come to.

"Alright, Clint, but that was seven years ago. You made some bad decisions; we all do. He has no right to judge you on it now, when he barely knows you, or the strong, brave and selfless man you've become." she said firmly, moving to sit closer to his side, where she could meet his gaze without him moving. She let him sit in silence for a few moments, process what she was telling him and maybe let it soothe the guilt that had risen up in him again. Then, she leaned in closer and gently pressed her lips to his forehead before speaking quietly. "You know the others have been standing at the elevator trying to find a good spot to interrupt for a while now."

Clint gave a low, unamused chuckle of agreement, meeting her gaze.

"I'm surprised Stark has lasted this long." he murmured, though she could see in his eyes that he was in no way ready to deal with them. Not when he was still trying to get together his own head.

"Course of action?" she asked in the same tone, though she had a sneaking suspicion that Steve would be able to hear them anyway.

"Ignore." Clint's response was simple as he met her gaze again. He didn't want to hear the other four Avengers at the moment. Truthfully, yes, he was still wary of their reactions to the parts of his past that he hadn't shared with them yet that had been announced unceremoniously earlier. He was terrified they would agree with the man, even though the rational part of his brain reminded that that was probably about as likely as Natasha agreeing with him.

What he wanted, especially now that they had finally admitted their feelings, which he knew was no small feat for either of them, was Natasha. So he met her gaze again before wrapping one hand around the back of her head, threading his fingers into her hair before he raised his head and lightly kissed her again. To his slight surprise, he felt her smile into the action before she returned it.

When they pulled apart a few long minutes later, he didn't even have to look up to tell that they were now completely alone in the gym. Instead, he kept his eyes locked onto Natasha's smiling to himself when he saw the content and very amused affection in her gaze.

"That, Agent Barton, was horribly manipulative." she told him matter of factly, settling onto his chest very comfortably.

"Maybe. But it did work." he pointed out, letting out a long sigh as he played absent -mindedly with her hair as she laid on his chest.

* * *

"Right, so let me just make sure I'm understanding this situation correctly." Tony started after he, Steve, Thor and Bruce found themselves right back where they had left about fifteen minutes ago to see if Natasha was making any progress with Clint's attitude. He had a new glass of Scotch, Steve had yet to stop blushing, Bruce looked rather shocked, though Tony couldn't really fathom /why/, and Thor was beaming like an idiot. "Downsides: Barton is wallowing in a vat of self-loathing and guilt, and my future father-in-law may or not be an asshole. Upsides: Barton and Romanoff seem to have finally gotten together."

"That… Seems to pretty much sum it up, yeah." Bruce agreed lightly, deftly making himself a cup of tea in the kitchen.

Before Tony could continue as he had opened his mouth to do, JARVIS' voice sounded from above them.

'_Sir, Ms. Potts is requesting your presence on the 57__th__ floor.' _the AI informed him and Tony gave a slight groan, but stood to move to the elevator.

"Alright, JARVIS, tell her I'm coming." he muttered, turning back to quickly refill his glass before walking away again. "Here's to hoping this ends well."

Steve and Thor gave grunts of agreement, while Bruce just sighed, which boded _oh so_ well.

"Thanks for the confidence, guys." he deadpanned, pressing the button for the elevator sharply. He really did want it to end well. Because he loved Pepper, and he wanted her to be happy. But at the same time, he couldn't help the angry protectiveness that rose up in him on Clint's behalf. The archer had become akin to a brother; the entire team had grown into his family, and the last thing he would tolerate was them being hurt in any way, emotionally or physically. Not that he would ever, even under the threat of death, admit that outloud.

When he stepped off the elevator, he instantly moved over to the semi-circle of couches, where Pepper and her parents had set up, the older couple sitting across from their daughter.

"Have you managed to find Clint?" Pepper asked as he approached, and he smiled slightly at the honest concern in her tone, not that he expected any less from her.

"Natasha's talking to him." he said matter of factly, sitting down beside her and putting the arm that wasn't preoccupied with holding his drink around her shoulders. "Even so, I highly doubt we'll be seeing much of him, at least of the next few days. He's about as stubborn as I am, and he's got his issues."

Tony didn't point out that those issues stemmed from what was probably far more than the archer's fair share of guilt a distinct lack of confidence in his own worth. He wasn't as oblivious as everyone thought, he recognized that Clint always seemed to act as if he had something to prove. Something like the fact that he was deserving of his spot on the Avengers.

He looked away from Pepper to look over to Jack, considering him for a few beats before he spoke again. The older man still had an air of slight shock around him, but Tony couldn't see a single hint of regret or apology. Not that he expected to from what he'd already experienced of Jack's personality.

"Look, I get it. The guy's an assassin. And during the short time you knew him, he was on the wrong side. But you generally don't base your entire judgment of someone off a few weeks during what was probably one of the lowest points in his life. And to be perfectly honest, throwing his past in his face like an insult was kinda an assholish move." Pepper sighed at that, and Jack opened his mouth to respond, but Tony just held up a hand to stop him. "Let me finish. You are essentially a guest in _his_ home. We all knew that he worked contracts, we all knew he'd been sent to prison for it. We also know that we trust him with our lives, and that he is the best marksman on the planet and that we wouldn't want anyone else in his spot. So if you'd be willing to just _drop it_, we can move on. I know Pepper is excited to have you here and be able to spend time with you."

After a few short moments, Jack sighed and nodded shortly, causing Pepper's shoulders to relax under Tony's arm, and Marie to smile slightly, taking her husband's arm and patting it approvingly.

"I'm still not saying I approve of what he does." Jack said matter of factly, and Tony resisted giving a long, drawn out groan, instead just giving a slight, invisible roll of his eyes.

"Luckily enough, we don't need you to." he said shortly.

Tony highly doubted this would be the last they heard of the issue, but for now he was content with letting it be.

"We'll let you get settled." Pepper said quickly, moving to stand and pulling Tony with her. "We'll show you around the city some tomorrow."

"That sounds wonderful." Marie said with a pointed nod to her daughter that Pepper probably got more out of than Tony did.

"Night." Tony offered lightly as he and Pepper waited for the elevator.

As soon as they were in the elevator, alone, and it had started up, Pepper turned to Tony and let her mortified expression show, shaking her head slowly.

"I am so sorry." she said, but Tony quickly shook his own head.

"Pep, it's not your fault. None of us could have known." he said firmly. "It'll work out. Just give Clint some time, he'll be fine."

He sincerely hoped his own words were true as he threw his arm casually over her shoulders again, not responding to her sigh.

* * *

**Alright so there we have it. I hope I did the Clint/Natasha scene justice, but unfortunately I don't have that much experience writing romance, so PLEASE tell me what you thought of that. And I swear that that is pretty much the last romance-focused scene in the story, more action coming. (Yay!)  
~Dogstar  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**And here we are with chapter 11! Thank you all for your reviews for the last chapter, and your continued support for this story. It blows me away how much feedback I've gotten with this series, and I know it's all due to you readers, so thank you. **

**I'm still not entirely certain how many more chapters there will be, either two or three, so we'll just have to see on that. So, I'm not going to keep you from this chapter any longer; please enjoy.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

Steve would be lying if he said he got a lot of sleep the first night of Jack and Marie Potts' stay in the tower. He would also be lying if he said he wasn't worried about Clint's state of mind, after the comments that had been hurled at him, courtesy of Pepper's father. Despite what they had seen of Clint and Natasha in the gym, and what _he_ had heard, he wasn't so sure that the issue would be such a quick fix.

Even the pitifully bare outline of Clint's past that Mr. Potts had exposed was more than any of them had known in the first place, except for, of course, Natasha. He'd always guessed that the scruffy-haired, admittedly much smaller kid had spent much of his life as an underdog. In that respect, and in plenty others he was sure, they were similar.

It was this train of thought that had him up and nursing a cup of coffee in the common area around four in the morning. He looked up, startled slightly, when he heard slight noises from the air ducts above him. When the noises went directly towards Clint's room, he knew their cause.

Hawkeye was very careful and nearly silent in every way that he moved, but there was only so much you could keep from a hearing-enhanced super soldier.

He stood quickly, wanting to try to talk to the archer now that he actually knew where the man was. He stopped after going no more than a few steps, however, wondering if trying to force Clint to talk would actually do him any good. Considering the archer's attitude towards them the night before, he wasn't very optimistic.

Sighing, he finished his coffee and put the empty cup in the sink, deciding that if he was going to be up, he might as well do something. Going for a run sounded appealing, and didn't seem to have started snowing outside yet. And maybe, Clint would be having the same idea.

Because of that thought, he couldn't bring himself to be surprised when he got down into the lobby of Stark Tower, and saw Clint dropping easily out of the air vent nearest the door, and then slipping outside without a sound. Steve followed hesitantly, not knowing if he was welcome, or if he should even announce his presence.

The archer probably knew he was there already, but then again, Steve couldn't remember seeing him this tired and worn in months. Clint's sharp eyes snapped to him when he exited the building, and the Captain nearly winced when he saw the cold and defensive attitude that had formed in them. It was something he recognized from when Clint had first moved into the tower, and he couldn't help wondering how many giant steps back they had taken.

Even so, he spoke, seeing as Clint himself didn't seem to be keen to do so anytime soon.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked curiously, giving the archer the clear option to say yes.

Clint considered him for a moment, before relaxing a fractional amount and shaking his head, starting down the street easily in the next moment. Steve allowed himself a quick, triumphant smile before he followed, catching up easily and jogging at his side. He was slightly surprised but at the same time relieved that Clint had allowed him to tag along. To him at least, it showed that whatever Clint feared that they had taken away from Jack Potts' outburst, he didn't _want_ to push them away.

After they'd gone maybe three miles and had entered the almost completely empty Central Park, Steve looked to his companion, before giving the slightest of smiles and asking his now-customary question.

"You want to talk about it?"

His smile slipped into a frown when Clint's shoulder's visibly stiffened, before he just gave his head a quick shake, eyes staring pointedly ahead of them.

"Alright." Steve responded easily, lapsing into silence again.

Somehow he managed to go another thirty yards before he realized Clint had stopped dead, staring at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked quickly, turning and walking quickly back to Clint's side, not understanding what had caused his sudden pause. He almost looked confused.

"Every time we go for a run, you ask me that question, and every time I either say no or blow it off completely. Why the hell do you keep asking, Steve?" Clint asked after a few moments of silence, his words not angry, but genuinely confused.

Steve gave a slow blink before rocking back on his heels slightly and responding.

"Because I'm not going to try to force you into talking about what's bothering you if you're not comfortable, Clint, but I want you to know you can talk to me about anything. And even if you did start to be comfortable enough with me to talk to me, do you expect me to believe that you would ever actually initiate the conversation?" Steve paused but didn't expect an answer from the archer whose expression had smoothed into complete emotionlessness. "So I ask so if you want to talk about it you can, or if you don't then you don't have to. It's that simple."

Silence fell between them again for a few short moments, before Clint's indifferent mask cracked and he gave a small, genuine smile. It only lasted about a half a second, but Steve saw it, and he returned it easily.

"Thanks, Cap." the archer said sincerely, giving a slow, almost disbelieving shake of his head.

Steve just gave a nod and started forward again, Clint falling in beside him silently. They ran for maybe another mile, lapsed into comfortable silence, before the Captain saw Clint glance to him before speaking carefully.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Steve. That's not it at all." he said and Steve turned to look to him as well, nodding acceptance.

"I know that. You're just a private person, and for good reason. I get it." he assured and Clint gave a single short nod, before turning his eyes back to their path.

The only slowed again when they had returned to the front of Stark Tower, both now sweating from exertion despite the cold. The sun had finally started rising, bright sunlight flitting between buildings and reflecting off the lower windows. Before Clint could lead the way into the tower lobby, Steve reached out and made him pause with a hand on his shoulder, speaking once the younger man turned back to him curiously.

"Look, I'm just going to say this, and then I'm going to drop it, alright?" the Captain started and the assassin narrowed his eyes slightly but stayed still, listening. "I don't know what you're thinking, or what you're worried about _us_ thinking, but I can tell you that we're not going to believe what he said over you. _You_ are our friend, and _you_ are our teammate. Not the other way around."

With that, Steve let his hand slip off of Clint's shoulder, expecting the archer to turn away and go back into the air ducts. Instead, the other man stared at him again, some unreadable emotion in his eyes that Steve couldn't quite identify, but had him thinking that Clint was considering his words somehow.

After a few moments, the archer's jaw clenched imperceptibly and he bowed his head, but nodded.

"Can you… bring everyone up to the roof when they wake up?" he asked as a long sigh, and Steve gave a slow, somewhat confused nod.

"Yeah, sure Clint." he said and Clint nodded again before disappearing up into the vent Steve had watched him drop down from before their run.

* * *

By eight everyone, even Tony, had managed to trudge out of their rooms, and were variously spread across the common area. Only Pepper had had the motivation to leave already, seeing as she had some things she needed to get done at Stark Industries before she took the afternoon off to take her parents out to see some of the city.

"I went for a run with Clint this morning." Steve spoke up into the relative silence of the room, causing the other four heads in the room to turn to him quickly. "He, uh, said to bring you all up to the roof when we were all awake."

"Did you talk?" Bruce asked as they all stood and quickly moved to the elevator.

"Kinda." Steve said, running a hand down the back of his head. "He… didn't really say anything, I did a little talking, but reading him is virtually impossible when he doesn't want you to."

Tony snorted his agreement as Natasha pressed the button for the roof, seeing as she had stepped into the elevator last. The relatively short ride up was silent, and when they stepped out onto the roof of the tower, Clint's form seated on the edge of the roof overlooking the balcony that extended off the floor below.

His head tilted towards them slightly when he heard them approach, before he turned to face them, eyes only somewhat guarded.

"Hey." he said, almost cautious as he watched them approach and then sit in a semi-circle in front of him.

"What's with the pow-wow, Featherhead?" Tony asked curiously as they all settled themselves onto the cold roof, the clouds almost low enough to conceal them.

"I just wanted to apologize, I guess, for last night. I shouldn't have run like I did." Clint said in a hard voice, and the others shared quick, confused glances, before it was Thor that spoke up.

"I'm afraid I do not see why you feel the need to apologize to us, my friend." the demi-god said, his own tone troubled as he regarded the archer. "It was not us that suffered from the confrontation."

"Yeah, well, it didn't do much for the mood of the evening , did it?" Clint asked but Bruce just shook his head.

"The last thing that was was your fault." the doctor said firmly, and the archer looked to him for a moment with the same considering look he'd given Steve earlier, before he gave himself a slight shake and responded.

"Anyway, you guys don't have to worry or anything, alright? I'm fine. I just want to stay out of the way so there's no tension." he said easily, and Tony snorted, an eyebrow raising in disbelief.

"Right. I almost believed you there. Until I saw the subtle little glare Romanoff is giving you." the billionaire said casually, making Clint give a slight sigh and turn his own glare to Natasha who gave a small, innocent shrug. "You may be able to lie to us pretty effectively, but not her. Sorry Barton."

"And telling us not to worry wouldn't have worked really well anyway seeing as you're still holing yourself up in the air ducts." Bruce pointed out, with what almost sounded like apology in his voice and Clint gave a small scowl, pulling in on himself tighter in what was a barely noticeable action.

"Look, can you honestly blame me for listening to him? In a way, he's right. I did those things. I killed innocent people. Nothing I do now is going to change that. I know that." the archer's voice had changed slightly, expressing a bitterness that they all seemed to expect at some level.

"Clint," Steve started, but before whatever he was going to say to reassure him could be voiced, Clint continued, his eyes on the small area of concrete between him and the rest of the group.

"He had most of the basic points right, you know. About my past." the rest of the Avengers fell silent, slightly shocked at the turn the conversation had taken. "I had just started the first grade, a little less than six and a half, when my parents were killed in a car crash. Drunk driver. I have a brother, he's-,"

"Shut up, Barton."

Clint was just as shocked as the rest of them at Tony's outburst, his eyes shooting up to the billionaire but falling silent. Tony just snorted slightly and shook his head, tossing a hand into the air.

"I would be the first to admit that I've been trying to whittle your life story out of you since the get-go. But this is _not_ going to be why you tell us. You have _nothing_ to prove to us, at all, and you shouldn't think that you do." the billionaire's voice was short and matter of fact, holding the archer's gaze squarely for a moment before he pushed himself to his feet and walked away.

As the rest of the team stared after him, all still blanketed in a shocked silence, he didn't even bother to wait for the elevator, instead taking the stairs down without looking back.

"He's right, you know." Bruce said knowingly, glancing to Clint after they'd all had a few moments to process Tony's words and actions. "And I'd like to say that that was probably Tony proving a point, not Tony being rude."

"There's not usually a difference." Natasha said dryly, but there was a difference to her voice that made the others think that she was actually in agreement with what Tony had done, which didn't happen often at all.

* * *

After leaving the others on the roof, Tony made his way to his lab and stayed there until it was time for him to meet Pepper and her parents for lunch in a small, out of the way café that his fiancée was partial to a couple blocks away.

His three companions were already seated at a table when he arrived, and he walked up to them, only to slow and let a small frown grace his expression when he heard what Jack Potts was saying.

"Can you honestly blame us for being worried? You're living with a very… eclectic, group of people, who have probably made their own fair share of enemies." the older man was saying in low tones, but Pepper just shook her head.

"Of course not, but I've been working with Tony for more than a decade. I can handle myself." she said firmly, before looking up and smiling when she saw him approaching. "Tony! I'm glad you could make it."

Tony instantly let the small frown on his face be replaced by an easy grin, moving to take the chair on Pepper's right.

"This might be a first. I'm not even late or anything." he said in a sarcastic, teasing voice that just had Pepper rolling her eyes as he sat, giving a nod of greeting to his future in-laws that were seated across from him. Marie returned it with a kind smile, while Jack just gave a slight grunt and returned his eyes to the menu.

Tony couldn't help being partly insulted, as well as partly impressed. He could definitely see where Pepper had gotten her hard-headed determination. Not just anyone would respond to a greeting from Tony Stark himself with a grunt.

After lunch, the two couples did a bit of sightseeing around New York, seeing as Jack and Marie had never been to the city. Tony tried not to look too bored with it, dutifully following Pepper and contributing to conversation. To be honest it felt nice to just be doing something completely normal for once. Not working on Iron Man suits, or top secret SHIELD projects, or signing off on things for his multi-million dollar industry, or saving the world from aliens. Normal. Walking around the city with his fiancée and her parents.

They went to a zoo. Tony honestly couldn't remember the last time he had been to a zoo, though he thought it had to be sometime before his mother had died.

Even he had to admit that the looks he had gotten from Jack, Marie and even Pepper to a lesser extent after he had glared furiously at a pair of vultures and muttered under his breath at them had been amusing.

"It's best not to ask." he said in a matter of fact tone as they walked away from the birds, Tony refusing to fully turn his back to them, though that was more a joke to see his companions' reactions. "It's a long story. But if vultures ever go extinct, they totally had it coming. The bastards."

Pepper had caught on by that point, and she covered her mouth to hide her giggles, but he just snorted in contempt. His entire suit had been scrap after that debacle with the huge, mutant vultures in Boston.

The billionaire wasn't quite sure how they managed to go the entire day without attracting the attention of the press, but he wasn't questioning it. Maybe they hibernated. He had no clue. The group of four ended up on Broadway as the sun was starting to set, and within half an hour, they were making their way into one of the theaters.

Truthfully, Tony would probably rather take on a handful of Hammer drones without his suit than sit through a musical production, but Marie had expressed interest, and had asked, and Jack made the comment that they probably couldn't get tickets so close to show time.

Naturally, being Tony Stark, he had taken that as a challenge.

Not long after walking in, they were taking seats in a balcony, Tony putting on a charming smile as he greeted a Congressman that he could barely remember the name of.

"Congressman, thank you for offering to share your balcony with us." Pepper said warmly, as the older, heavy-set man shook Tony's hand, and then Pepper's.

"No trouble at all, Ms. Potts. Why let the seats go to waste? It's not every day you see Mr. Stark at such a mild function." the man smiled.

"Uh, I'm taking that as a compliment to my ability to throw a good party." Tony informed them quickly as he sat, waving a somewhat surprised and impressed Jack and Marie forward as the Congressman gave a booming laugh. "Ms. Potts' parents. They're in town for the week."

The Congressman greeted them just as warmly, before he sat in the seat at Tony's side that wasn't occupied by Pepper and started jabbering in his ear about political news and ideals and whatnot. The billionaire gave a smile that was obviously fake to everyone that knew him and almost completely blocked the man out.

Even as his mind entertained the debate of just how much he'd have to subtly insult the man in order to get thrown out, Pepper leaned over to his other ear and gripped his hand lightly.

"Thank you, Tony." she murmured knowingly and Tony stifled a long-suffering sigh, but relaxed back, all thoughts of purposefully getting kicked out collapsing instantly with her words. If it made Pepper happy, then he was happy.

He almost cheered when the show actually started, because it meant the Congressman had to shut up for the time being. Despite that though, he managed to tune out whatever it was he was supposed to be watching within five minutes as well, turning his mind to the new weapon he and Bruce were working on of the Iron Man suit instead.

By the end of what he thought was a musical, he had moved on to trying to come up with an electricity resistant substance he could use for the element's casing in his arc reactor. He only knew to look up when Pepper elbowed him pointedly in the side as everyone else gave a standing ovation. He jumped up as well, forcing a grin and clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

After they had left the theater, and subsequently escaped the clutches of the very insistent Congressman that Tony thought was sucking up a _bit_ too much, he led them to a small, hole-in-the-wall bar/coffee shop/thing that he had heard about from Clint and Steve who had found it on one of their mind-numbingly early morning runs. They got themselves settled easily, Marie and Pepper with warm mugs of coffee, while Jack and Tony sprung for something a little more alcoholic.

"Thank you, Tony, that was wonderful." Marie said gratefully as she sipped her coffee.

"Oh, it was no problem." he waved off the thanks easily before tipping his head to Pepper and continuing. "The Congressman's probably going to want me to show up somewhere and support him on something now. Ignore everything."

"Tony," Pepper started, voice slightly disapproving, but he just gave a small, coy smirk as he sipped his Scotch.

"Do _you_ want to listen to him drone on and on about whatever bullshit he's spewing for his campaign?" he asked pointedly and she sighed, reluctantly agreeing as her father snorted.

"Not a fan of the man?" he asked, but Tony just shrugged.

"Not a fan of politics." he said simply.

Jack gave a small nod, and Tony relaxed back into his chair, looking to Pepper as she spoke to him, sounding relaxed and happy, which made him content just hearing that tone in her voice.

"Where'd you even find this place, Tony? It's very… quaint. Not really your style." she said with a grin that was almost teasing and he gave a slight scoff, eyes glinting with amusement as he responded.

"I'll have you know, Ms. Potts, that I can be very quaint." he sniffed, before shaking his head. "Nah. Steve and Clint told me about it. They found it on one of their runs, figured we were nearby, might as well give it a try."

"Now that makes more sense." Pepper said lightly, and he gave her an insulted look as Marie gave a surprised blink.

"How far is it to Stark Tower from here?" she asked, and Tony quickly did the math in his head as he gave a shrug.

"Two miles maybe? That's nothing for them, really. From what I've heard them say, they usually do a circuit around Central Park in the morning. Crazy people, I'm telling you. _Why_ two perfectly normal… wait, never mind. I see the problem." Tony spoke lightly, causing a sigh from Pepper while Marie gave a quick chuckle, and Jack just gave another snort, his eyes having hardened as soon as Clint had been mentioned.

Tony ignored it, even though he had noticed. Surprisingly, he had managed to have a fairly good time with Pepper and her parents today, and he wasn't keen to start an argument now. That said, it was far more difficult in practice than it was in his head, certainly not used to biting back a scathing comment instead of just bluntly saying it.

When Tony stood not long after to get refills of their drinks, Marie turned to Pepper, a knowing smile on her face.

"So when were you planning on telling us that you are going to marry this man?" she asked lightly, and Pepper instantly gave an uncharacteristic blush as her father looked to her curiously as well.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you." Pepper said quickly, giving her head a small shake. "It was just you had never met him, and…" she trailed off when her mother's smile widened.

"You left the ring on, dear." she pointed out and Pepper looked quickly down to her hand and sure enough saw Tony's engagement ring glinting on her finger.

"Oh." she said simply, blushing again, which just caused her mother to laugh, and her father to give a somewhat lighter, amused snort.

"Have you talked about a wedding yet?" Jack asked, and before Pepper could answer a negative, Tony walked back up, setting their drinks on the table.

"Not really. I just sprung it on her like… a week ago. Haven't really had the time quite yet." the billionaire said easily, taking his seat again, and throwing an arm around Pepper's shoulders. "Whatever she wants is fine with me, though. My schedule isn't exactly set in stone, it actually depends on who wants to use what alien/mutant/robot-of mass-destruction to try to take over the world on any given day."

They spent a little more time talking about possible weddings before the two couples went their separate ways, Tony and Pepper back to the Tower, while Jack and Marie decided to take another walk around by themselves.

Back home, Tony found Natasha, Thor, Steve and Bruce watching the Travel Channel, and what was probably _the_ weirdest show he had ever seen. Clint was nowhere to be seen, which made him frown slightly, before he and Pepper sat down with the others as Thor started an animated, obviously enthusiastic explanation of what they were watching.

After maybe an hour and a half, Pepper left the room with a phone call, only to come back a few short minutes later, looking shaken and clutching her phone tightly.

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, noticing her expression first and causing the rest of their faces to turn to her quickly.

"Did something happen?" Tony asked, standing and moving over to her.

"They're fine." she said, making Tony think that something had happened with Jack and Marie. What, he had no idea. "We just need to get to the 18th Precinct. Now. I'll explain on the way."

Tony shared a quick, confused glance to Bruce before following Pepper to the elevator quickly.

* * *

**So there we have it. I know you're all going to gather with pitchforks for that little cliffhanger there... But, pitchfork or not, please leave a review to tell me what you thought.  
~Dogstar**


	12. Chapter 12

**You all don't know how extremely happy I am to have gotten this back to a normal update , I know you're all ecstatic, looking at that cliffhanger I left you all with last time. Thank you so very much to all of you who have reviewed, alerted and favorited this story, you're all awesome. And I don't know if you noticed, but I _definitely_ noticed that you've all managed to go OVER 200 reviews for this story already. Thank you all for your feedback.**

**I'm thinking probably two more chapters to wrap this up. **

**And, looking at your reviews, you were all so worried for Clint after last chapter. Well, at least you don't have to wait that long to find out. So, please enjoy this chapter.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

As Tony drove though the heavy New York traffic back towards the Tower a little under an hour later, he pondered the idea of whether or not his future in-laws had the absolute worst luck in the world. And seeing as that was an accomplishment he typically reserved for Clint, that was saying something.

Both Jack and Marie were seated in the backseat, the older woman looking extremely shaken, while Jack's expression had hardened even more than usual. They were all completely silent, not commenting on what had happened.

As it turned out, the Potts' had gotten fifteen minutes into their walk before they had stumbled onto what turned out to be a drug deal gone wrong. There had been three other witnesses as well, but Jack had been the only one to see the shooter's face during the actual attack. Officers had already picked up Christian Ortega for the crime. What made the whole situation even more fun was that the man was a known presence within the Menendez drug cartel, or so the lead detective on the case had told him.

Tony muttered quietly under his breath as he drove, fighting the urge to sigh. Jack had refused a protective detail, stating that he was well used to being on the bad sides of criminals and that he wasn't going to let this be any different.

Tony could see the worry on Pepper's face, though, and he resolved to find out all he could about the cartel when they got back to the Tower, starting with seeing if Clint or Natasha had ever heard of them, and if that didn't work, sending JARVIS snooping through SHIELD. Even if the police weren't sure whether or not there would be retaliation, he wanted to put Pepper's mind at ease if nothing else.

Plus, Stark Tower was probably _the_ safest building in the city.

Once they did finally get out of traffic and back to the tower, all four went up to the top floor, where JARVIS informed them that the rest of the team was located.

"What happened?" Steve's curious voice met them as soon as the elevator door opened and the two couples stepped out.

"Apparently, they have worse luck than Barton." Tony said shortly, moving over to the bar and leaving Pepper to explain the situation while he poured himself a drink. Once she was done, he looked up to Natasha, expression curious. "Are you familiar with a Menendez? Runs a drug cartel?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly in thought, her tongue clicking quietly as she ran the name through her mind.

"I personally haven't dealt with them, but I'm familiar with the name. Your best bet would be to ask Clint." she said after a few moments, and Tony gave a slight nod, looking up and around, pausing when he saw an air vent that would be easily accessible if he stood on the bar.

"Well, let's see if we can get Featherhead out of his nest." he said lightly, before setting his glass to the side and jumping up onto the bar and reaching for the vent, glad at least part of the tower had a low ceiling. "Just keep in mind that I don't do this professionally like some bow-wielding assassins we know."

"This will not end well." Thor pointed out in a matter of fact voice, and Tony gave a quiet scoff before sticking his head up, looking to the demi-god.

"Thanks for the confidence boost, Point Break." he snorted, looking back up as he poked his head carefully into the duct.

It was cold, drafty, cramped, and almost completely pitch black, and part of him wondered why in the hell Clint would prefer to spend his time up there. He looked to his right, able to see the dim lighting from the next vent down the duct a few yards away.

"Hey, Barton." he called, waiting a few moments and getting no response before he scowled. "I feel like an idiot."

"You look like one."

The sudden voice on his other side surprised him and he almost slipped off the bar in his haste to turn, just barely picking out Clint's stormy blue/gray eyes and the vague outline of his form in the darkness.

"You realize how freaking _creepy_ that is, right Barton?" he quipped pointedly, and he just barely saw the shrug he got in response.

"It's been mentioned." Clint said, not at all sounding fazed. "So what happened?"

"You familiar with a drug cartel headed by a guy named Menendez?" Tony questioned before looking around himself and putting one hand on either side of the vent before beginning to leverage himself up. It was harder than Clint made it look.

"Can you at least try not to kill yourself?" Clint demanded as a growl, reaching forward to help him up and into the duct.

"I can try." Tony grunted, seating himself cross-legged in the duct, the open vent in between him and Clint. "So?"

"Menendez?" Clint asked, continuing once he got the other man's nod of affirmation. "I'm familiar. Last I heard they were small, number wise, but have a pretty wide distribution and multiple suppliers. Also sticklers for in-house loyalty. I'm assuming they witnessed something?"

"Murder, by a man named Christian Ortega." Tony informed him, and the archer gave an impressed blink.

"Menendez's number two. Yeah, they'd better lay low for a while. They're not going to want Ortega put away; especially not for murder. I'm surprised, really. Ortega isn't known for doing his own dirty work." Clint said lightly, and Tony gave a sarcastic smirk.

"Great, that's exactly what I want to tell them." he said, voice carrying the same level of sarcasm as his expression, but Clint just gave another barely visible shrug.

"Hey, man, I'm giving it to you straight." he said and Tony waved him off with a nod.

"I know, I know, thank you." he said hastily, and Clint gave a slight sigh.

"I've got some contacts I can try to get in touch with, alright? I'll see if I can get an idea of what's going on. Depending on the situation, and whether or not he knows the guy's a judge, Menendez might not want to risk it. Just tell them to stay in the tower for a few days, let the waters calm."

"Will do." Tony nodded again, before giving a smirk. "Thanks, Legolas."

"Don't thank me yet. I might not even be able to get in contact with them. And don't go anywhere near SHIELD with this. They're picky with Menendez's operations." the archer informed him and Tony raised an eyebrow.

"What _isn't_ SHIELD picky about?" he asked rhetorically, and Clint gave a slight chuckle of agreement, shaking his head.

"Seriously. Fury will come down on your ass. He has agents in the cartel, long-term. You do anything to jeopardize that, and he will skin you alive. Probably literally."

"Alright, alright." Tony acquiesced, raising his hands in a placating gesture. He then made to move slip out of the vent, only to stop when Clint reached back behind him and brought forward a pillow which he dropped over the vent opening.

The action served to block out most of the light that Tony had been using to see, as well as most likely mask their voices from the others below them. He took that to mean that the archer wasn't done talking, and he wanted it to be somewhat private.

"Do you want lights up here or something?" Tony asked doubtfully, settling himself back in the same position he had been in before, now having to try even harder to pick out Clint's eyes. "And where'd you get the pillow? Are you sleeping up here?"

"Tony." Clint's voice stopped his line of questioning, and the billionaire paused, listening. "About earlier… thank you. What you said, it means a lot." the archer's voice was hard, and hesitant almost, as if he was quite sure he wanted to be saying what he was.

"You don't need to thank me for telling your stubborn ass the truth, Legolas." Tony said casually, though he was slightly surprised by the man's words.

Clint gave a quiet snort before speaking. "And yes, Tony, I sleep in the ducts sometimes."

It was easier to tell the man that he slept in the air ducts _sometimes_ as opposed to telling him that he slept in them when he wasn't quite sure he was safe. Like after a particularly bad nightmare and he wasn't with Natasha. And despite the fact that he hadn't actually slept last night, he had still moved a pile of blankets and his pillow into the ducts.

"Do you understand how _odd_ that is?" Tony asked lightly, and Clint let another quiet chuckle escape before he grabbed his pillow and tossed it back behind him again, where he had grabbed it from what Tony would probably call his 'nest' of blankets.

"Yes, I do. Now get out of my air duct so I can see if I can get a hold of anybody."

"Your air duct?" Tony demanded, though he still scooted forward and dropped his legs though the vent. "I'm pretty sure this is still technically _my_ air duct. Seeing as it is _my_ tower."

"Whatever. You're not going to use it, so it might as well be mine." Clint rolled his eyes, though the older man just shot him a slight glare.

"I'm going to use it like a normal person. For _air_. Not transportation." he said matter of factly, and the archer snorted.

"You? Normal? Don't make me laugh, Stark."

"Says the bow-wielding assassin sleeping in the air ducts."

"I never tried to say I was normal. You're the one lying to yourself."

"Oh really?" Tony asked, but before he could continue, Pepper's voice came through the vent, sharp and carrying an edge of exasperated amusement.

"Boys!"

"Come on, Pep. He said I wasn't normal. I take that as an insult." Tony protested as he gave Clint a bright smirk before dropping back onto the bar.

"Tony, you're not normal." Pepper said pointedly, and he adopted a mock hurt expression, looking to where she was standing a few feet away from the other side of the countertop.

"Aw, that hurt Pep. That hurt deep." he said, clapping a hand to his chest dramatically as the vent slid sharply shut behind him and there was a soft scuffling above them.

"What did Clint have to say? Other than you two bickering like an old married couple again?" Bruce asked, crossing his arms over his chest defensively at the billionaire's accusing glare.

"My fiancée, and Barton's girlfriend take offense to that comment." Tony said briskly, only to visibly shrink under the strength of Natasha's glare and take a small step back. He then pointedly cleared his throat as Thor chuckled. "Anyway. He said that he is familiar with Menendez, and that Ortega is actually his right-hand man. He's got some people he's going to try to get in touch with, but other than that he advises laying low for a few days at least to let things blow over a bit."

"Well, forgive me for not being instantly reassured by the man in the air ducts." Jack said shortly, and everyone's eyes turned to him in some form of disapproval, while Tony just jumped down from the bar and grabbed his formerly discarded glass.

"Barton likes his distance. And no offense, Jack, but the guy _is_ one of the best assassins in the world. That's not a title obtained easily. He knows what he's talking about." the billionaire said flippantly, before making for the elevator. "Banner! Let's do some science. I was thinking about those designs earlier, and I think I may have an answer to our problem." Tony's voice faded as the two scientists got into the elevator and the doors closed behind them.

* * *

Tony didn't spare Jack or Marie Potts another moment of thought until the next afternoon, too busy tinkering on the new weapon with Bruce. They had almost gotten to the testing stages, but Dr. Killjoy, as Tony now referred to Bruce, had insisted that they use at least some precautionary safety procedures. As they set up an area to test the weapon safely, the music paused and JARVIS' voice spoke up, the AI as close to annoyed as it could sound.

'_Sir, Mr. Potts is at the door requesting entrance. I have told him that he does not have access to the area, but he is insistent.'_

Tony sighed quickly before standing up straight and setting down the tools he was holding on a nearby workbench.

"Let him in this time, JARVIS." he said, sounding somewhat annoyed at the interruption himself.

Bruce stood as well as the door to the lab slid open and Jack walked in, looking around himself with a grudgingly impressed air.

"Assume if you touch it, that it will explode." Tony warned in a flippant tone, wiping his hands off on an already grease-covered rag and watching the older man carefully.

"I thought you didn't make weapons anymore?" Jack asked curiously as he came closer, specifically eyeing what the two men were currently working on.

"I don't make weapons to sell through Stark Industries." Tony corrected, leaning against the work bench and stretching his back. "I make some weapons for myself to use on the Iron Man suit, and very rarely some low-level tech for a top secret government agency. Right now, we're working on the first one. And Bruce is being a stick in the mud and not letting me test it the fun way."

"The 'fun way' could potentially blow out a hole in the tower wall." Bruce said mildly. "And possibly produce some other less than desirable outcomes that could break the _rest_ of the tower walls."

"See?" Tony demanded of Jack, who had now raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Stick in the mud."

"Right." the judge said somewhat doubtfully, and Bruce snorted before looking between Tony and Jack and moving to leave the lab.

"I'm just going to, ah, go get… something. From… my lab." the doctor offered before slipping through the door and leaving the other two men alone.

"So what can I do for you?" Tony questioned easily, moving back towards his desk to retrieve his coffee cup. He scowled slightly when it became apparent that the remaining liquid in the cup had gone cold a long time ago, and he set the mug back down before looking to Jack with an expectantly raised eyebrow.

"So you're going to marry my daughter." the silver-haired man said with a slight sigh after a few long moments, raising his eyes to meet Tony's.

The billionaire held his gaze stubbornly, before taking a seat in the chair at his desk and giving a nod.

"That's the plan, yes. Is this the conversation where you tell me that if I hurt her, you'll shoot me? Because that is definitely _not_ the plan." he said flippantly, and Jack snorted, taking a small step closer to him and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I want to know that you can protect her." the older man said shortly. "Because let's face it son, you have no shortage of enemies, and all you're going to do is make more. What happens when they go after her to get to you?"

Tony instantly stiffened, eyes darkening with poorly masked fear as he responded harshly.

"You think I don't already think about that? That I haven't _always_ thought about that?" he growled, making Jack give a quick blink of surprise. "If it was my choice, she'd be walking around in body armor with six body guards specially trained by our two resident assassins. But she won't do it. She's not afraid; refuses to be." he then gave a slight huff of annoyance, leaning back in his chair. Slowly, he forced his shoulders to relax and hid his emotions from Jack, and giving a dark smirk instead. "But at the same time I pity the dumb bastard that even looks at her funny. Because I will blow them straight into the center of the earth. Or deep space; haven't decided yet."

A few beats of silence stretched between them, Jack's eyes narrowed somewhat as if gauging his sincerity. Then, Tony spoke again, his voice lighter this time.

"I will do anything to make her happy, Jack. And I know I am probably worse than the worst idea your mind came up with for her future husband, but it is what it is, and I hope you can accept that."

The older man grunted quietly before he too relaxed, giving his own smirk.

"You're not _that_ bad, son. I just wanted to make sure you would protect her, because I have a feeling that things can get crazy around here."

"Jack, I could probably redefine crazy for you." Tony corrected, grinning with a slight chuckle, which Jack returned before tilting his head slightly to the side in confusion.

"What did you mean by '_two_ resident assassins'?" he asked and Tony's grin widened.

"If you tried to insinuate that we kept Romanoff around for her looks, she would kill you with a toothpick." he said innocently, only to sober and stiffen again when Jack's expression hardened again into something akin to disapproval.

"Look, Jack, I get that you're a judge and all, but sometimes, there's some people that just need to be taken out. There is no justice system that would actually do them, or the countless people they've hurt, justice. _That_ is Barton and Romanoff's job."

"And the people that Barton hurt? Before I put him into prison?" Jack demanded gruffly, and Tony gave a quick shake of his head.

"People, lost kids especially, can make bad decisions. I don't pretend to know who Clint was then, or understand why he did what he did. But I don't judge him because he does more than enough of that to himself. What I do know is that he is a good man and the only one I can count on to be able and arguably stupid or brave enough to shoot arrows at aliens and monsters at my back. And just because you keep bringing it up, that doesn't mean you're going to change mine, or anyone else's mind. Truthfully, it's starting to get a little annoying." Tony kept his voice light and airy, once again holding Jack's gaze stubbornly as he spoke.

The older man didn't respond for a few long moments, and Tony just stood with a small shrug and grabbed his coffee cup again before moving for the door and holding it open pointedly for him to exit as well.

* * *

Clint, on the other hand, was cocooned in his blankets in the air duct above where Thor and Steve were engaged in a fiercely competitive video game match, reading a book he had borrowed from Natasha's room with the aid of a flashlight. Or at least he was trying to read. All he really ended up doing was thinking about what in the hell he was doing in the air duct instead of perched on the back of the couch and giving his two friends a serious run for their money.

All if his teammates had made it abundantly clear that they had believed what Jack Potts said less than he did. Tony rather forcefully so.

Really, the only reason he had for staying in the ducts was because the last thing he wanted to do was cause tension. Tony, the entire team really, had taken him in even after Loki when pretty much no one had trusted him. He didn't want to repay them for that by causing problems.

He wasn't surprised that as it drew closer and closer to dinner time, the entire team and Pepper converged closer to the kitchen, Tony and Steve starting up the debate of what to have for dinner while Bruce played the ever-patient mediator. He was seriously contemplating joining them before the elevator announced its arrival and Jack and Marie stepped out, hand in hand.

"Marie and I are going out for dinner." Jack announced matter of factly, his expression daring anyone to argue. The rest of the sounds in the room fell silent as everyone turned to look at them.

"Dad, that's really not the best idea." Pepper was the first to protest, standing, but the silver-haired man just responded in the same firm voice.

"I'm not going to be scared into hiding by criminals." he said, and Clint heard himself give a quiet growl, his eyes narrowing.

The man's stubbornness and pride was going to get him and his wife killed, and he liked Pepper too much to let that happen.

None of his old contacts inside Menendez's cartel had still been active, so he was at the point where he either did something himself, or risked letting the couple get hurt.

Muttering to himself furiously as Tony argued beneath him, Clint practically slid towards his room, quickly dropping in. In minutes he had suited up, pulled a black jacket on over his armor and slung his quiver over his back, bow fixed in its slot. He had then taken to a rooftop beside Stark Tower and was just in time to watch Jack and Marie walk out the front doors and down the street, still hand in hand.

Apparently, the rest of the team had been unable to convince them to take someone with them, or not to go at all. A small mercy lie in the fact that they seemed content walking wherever it was they were going as opposed to taking a cab.

The archer kept a careful eye on them as he moved with his typical ease and grace from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally taking to alleyways instead when his route required it. Following people through the shadows was a skill he had perfected long ago, and thus, neither of them noticed that they were being followed. And, the civilian population of New York was blissfully unaware of the dark-clothed man carrying a quiver of arrows on his back and skirting alleys and rooftops.

He watched from the top of a building to the east of the Potts' chosen restaurant as the couple took seats at a window-side table. His vantage point was perfect to watch them, as well as the front and side service doors. Sighing, he laid out flat on his stomach, head resting on his arms that were crossed in front of him. His eyes flicked around the area periodically, well used to the tactics of surveillance and a protection detail.

Their dinner was calm and uneventful, both completely unaware that they were being watched. Granted, he _was_ the good guy in this situation, and hopefully, they'd get back to the tower and not even have to know that they had been followed in the first place.

When they left the restaurant a little over an hour and a half later, Clint stood and stretched quickly before following after them, dropping down onto the fire escape of the building he was on, and then leaping over to a drain pipe of the next building and scaling up it with ease.

They went another four blocks at a leisurely pace back towards the tower before Clint stiffened slightly as he noticed the four men that also seemed to have been following them, eyes locked onto the couples' backs with barely a thought to being discreet in their actions. Frowning and sliding his bow out and into his hand, the archer watched as the group came up beside the Potts' and all but herded them into an alley, though he couldn't quite hear what was being said.

Two more men met them there, the four that had been following them blocking the exit as Jack pulled Marie behind him protectively. With the wind what it was, Clint still couldn't hear Jack's words as he spoke, but the gun that one of the men pulled from his jacket explained more than it needed to about the situation.

Without a moment's hesitation, he jerked his bow open, crouched at the edge of the roof and drew an arrow. A heartbeat later, it had gone completely through the gunman's wrist, rendering the hand useless and causing the gun to drop to the ground. It took Clint exactly 90 seconds to draw and fire five of the electrical impulse arrows Bruce had designed for him, and drop the other men before they could process what had happened to react.

The only one he had left conscious was a little too preoccupied with the arrow sticking out of his wrist, and trying to keep himself quiet to avoid drawing attention to what was happening in the alley, to care about what had happened to his companions.

Jack and Marie too seemed to have been shocked into silence, both unmoving.

Clint then dropped to the ground near the mouth of the alley, so the man had nowhere to run even if he wanted to. He completely ignored the Potts', instead watching as the stocky dark-haired man caught sight of him. Or not him, so much as the bow in his hand and the quiver on his back.

His eyes widened into terror and he backed a few quick steps down the alley. "Oh shit. Oh _hell_…"

He continued rambling out an almost amusing combination of curses and prayers until Clint cut across him, approaching slowly.

"Oh good. You know who I am. That saves me from having to ask whether or not you actually work for Menendez." he said in an almost bored tone, his expression completely blank of any expression other than a dangerous coldness.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." the man stammered quickly, but Clint just snorted before clearing the space between them in half a second and slamming the man back into one of the alley's side walls, the one opposite the one Jack had Marie huddled against. He then held one forearm across the other man's throat and pulled an arrow with his free hand, bow having gone over his shoulder.

"You're lying to me." the archer said calmly, twirling the arrow in a dangerous fashion well within the man's line of sight. He squirmed slightly but didn't dare try to move. "Do it again, and I'll put this through your heart."

The man's eyes went impossibly wider, flicking to meet Clint's gaze as if to gauge his sincerity and almost instantly looking away with a gulp at the cold detachment his eyes exhibited.

"Look, Menendez just told us to keep a watch out for 'em, and to keep 'em from talking about Ortega if they showed up." the man said, tripping over his words in his haste to speak and shying away from Clint as much as he could.

"Is Menendez in town?" Clint demanded shortly, eyes narrowing when the man hesitated, shifting again.

"H-he'll kill me. I… I can't" he protested, but the archer just gave a dark snort.

"Him you can run and hide from. Me? I _will_ kill you." Clint said, no change to his tone at all, and still not a single flicker of emotion breaking through his mask.

That was all it took to have the man rattle off an address and apartment number for an apartment building in Manhattan.

"Thank you for your cooperation." the archer said once he'd committed the information to memory, and as he slid the arrow back into his quiver. He reached instead for the button on his bow to load an impulse arrow instead, allowing a dark smirk to grace is features as the man sagged against his hold in relief.

In the next moment, he was on the ground, twitching and unconscious but alive. Clint put the arrow back into his quiver, as well as crouching to twist off the head of the one that had gone through his wrist so he could pull it out easier and collect it as well.

"To be honest, this is why I said to lay low in the first place." he said mildly as he turned back to Jack and Marie, who were now staring at him, dumbstruck.

"_Barton_?" Jack demanded, his tone a mixture of relief, disbelief, and wariness.

"You're welcome." Clint continued as if the man hadn't spoken, crouching to collect his arrows from the other men as well as making sure they were all still unconscious. He didn't want to leave any evidence of his presence because he didn't want this little encounter tied back to him, or SHIELD.

"How did you even know where we were?" Jack continued to question as he wrapped his arms around a visibly shaken Marie and pulled her close.

"I've been following you since you left the tower. Which you need to get out of here and get back to before any of these guys regain consciousness." Clint said shortly, standing fully and looking to Jack as the judge's eyes surveyed the downed men around them.

"You mean they aren't…" he trailed off uncertainly and the archer gave a snort.

"Dead? No. Electrical impulse strong enough to knock them out for a while. Maybe pee themselves. Nothing life threatening. Now you two get going; do yourselves a favor and take a cab." Clint all but ordered, not in the mood to sit around and wait for these guys to wake up, because as soon as they did, they would call Menendez, and he would lose his window.

"What are you going to do?" Marie asked, her voice still carrying an edge of fear that made Clint's expression soften as he gave her a short, reassuring nod.

"I'm going to take care of this."

He watched as the pair went back out to the street and waved down a cab, the car taking off in the direction of the tower after they had gotten in. Pepper's parents safe, he then made his way back up to the roof of the building he'd been on before and took a quick look around before heading in the direction of the address the man had given him.

Twenty minutes later, he was crouched behind an air conditioning unit, glaring through a huge wall-sized window in the upscale apartment building across the street. Luckily, it hadn't been a hard place to find, and even better, Menendez was actually in the room behind the window into his apartment.

Eddie Menendez was sitting behind an office desk in the room, giving a woman that was probably his wife a kiss goodnight. This wasn't the base of operations for the man's cartel. No, this was the man's private home. A place that was probably thought of as a sanctuary for himself and his family.

And Clint was about to completely shatter that notion.

He picked up the arrow he'd already prepared and notched it into his bow, taking careful aim through the window. The glass shouldn't be a problem, considering the strength of the force behind one of his arrows, and that the sharp arrowhead was wider than the fletching on the other end of the shaft so that the entire weapon could pass through the hole that was made, undeterred.

Letting out a long breath, Clint fixed his aim, waited for Menendez's wife to leave the room, and loosed the arrow.

True to its aim, it crashed through the glass and imbedded itself into the wall only inches to the right and behind Menendez's head. The man jumped in shock at the sound, but Clint didn't wait to see the reaction to the arrow that had so narrowly gone past his head, or the note that had been wrapped around the shaft.

It wasn't often that his arrows carried a symbolic purpose as opposed to a deadly one.

The note was short and to the point. Either Menendez left the witnesses to Ortega's crime alone – all of them – or his next arrow wouldn't be aimed at something silly like a wall. He had signed it with an almost comical sketch of a hawk, but Menendez would understand.

Hell, an arrow alone would have been enough to plant sufficient fear into the cartel leader's mind, but that didn't exactly convey his purpose, thus the note had been necessary.

By the time he got back to the tower, he was cold and beginning to feel the edges of exhaustion, not having gotten much sleep last night either, and seeing as he had been sprinting around the city by the rooftops. As such, he actually decided to use the elevator as opposed to shimmying though the air ducts. Besides, seeing as he'd just saved the guy's life, he and Jack were probably due for some conversation, tension or not.

He blinked slightly in surprise when the elevator doors opened, only to reveal an almost angry looking Pepper Potts waiting for him.

"You followed my parents?" she demanded, and Clint raised an eyebrow and cast a quick glance to Tony who stood slightly behind her. The billionaire made a quick hand motion that the archer took to mean 'just go with it', so he gave a slight shrug and nodded.

"I did." he said simply, taking a small step out of the elevator so the doors could close. "If he was going to be stubborn and stupid, I wasn't going to let him get them both killed for it. If I was wrong and Menendez wasn't planning on trying to keep them quiet, they never would have even known I was there. As it was, they kind of noticed me when I knocked the six guys going after them unconscious. The impulse arrows work fantastic by the way." he added the last tidbit in to Bruce who gave a smile and a nod.

Turning back to Pepper, he was slightly surprised when she simply took two steps forward and hugged him tightly. His body stiffened automatically at the invasion of his personal space, but he forced himself to relax and return it with one arm, his expression softening when he felt that she was shaking.

"I took care of it, Pepper, I promise." he told her reassuringly, nodding to Tony as he mouthed something along the lines of 'Thank God'.

"What did you do, Clint?" Natasha asked sharply from where she sat with the rest of the team, along with Jack and Marie on the couches a few yards away.

"I didn't kill anybody." the archer gave a wry smirk as Pepper let him go and took a small step back, murmuring a quiet thank you. "I sent a message. Menendez will understand; we're somewhat acquainted."

"Comforting." Bruce said mildly from where he sat as Clint moved into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot that was miraculously already made.

"Isn't it?" he asked sarcastically some of the darkness leaving his eyes as he grinned at the doctor while Thor and Tony chuckled and Natasha and Steve shared an amused glance, before grabbing his cup, raiding the pantry for a box of cereal and retreating into his room.

* * *

**...And we're back to Clint being a BAMF. It was fun, very fun, to write. No cliffhanger this time, guys. Also, more coming about Eddie Menendez and Clint's connection to him coming in the next chapter. If you can, I'm always willing to hear what all you readers have to think, so drop me a review.  
~Dogstar**


	13. Chapter 13

**Welcome to chapter 13, everyone! Thank you all so much for your overwhelming response to this story, it really does keep me writing for all of you. **

**Moving on, there will be one more chapter to this story to finish it up, before I start on Glass. Finally. I know some of you have been waiting a while to see that one, and it's finally time for it. I'll put up a summary in the author's notes of the next chapter.**

**So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and tell me what you think. If I (read: the online translator) butchered any of the I think three different languages in this chapter, I apologize.**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

When Natasha came out of her room the next morning, she couldn't help the small, relived smile that graced her features as soon as she got a whiff of the smells coming from the kitchen. Namely, the smell of Clint's very distinctive pancakes. No one to date had gotten him to tell them what was in them, and the archer had sworn JARVIS to secrecy. Not even she knew what exactly went into the batter.

What she did know, was that while he went for runs with Steve typically on days when it was worse, he only typically made pancakes on days that it was _better_. Even the rest of the team seemed to have picked up on that aspect, and the fact that he was making pancakes now told her a lot about how his mood had to have improved since the day before. And she hadn't even seen him yet.

Sure enough, as she turned the corner into the kitchen, she paused to take in the sight of Clint at the stove, flipping pancakes two at a time between pans and having them cross in mid-air, all while Tony sat at the counter and scoffed that he wouldn't be able to do it. Steve, Thor, Bruce and Pepper were also situated at the counter, watching the interaction between archer and billionaire in amusement.

It wasn't often that Natasha found herself as the last one awake, especially with Stark in the tower. She walked forward, over to Clint's side and eased herself onto the counter to the left side of the stove, grinning as her eyes caught his. He returned it as more a lopsided wry smirk, that would have made her laugh with happiness had she allowed her emotions to show. His eyes were bright, any traces of darkness and guilt buried deep and locked away. She wasn't a fool; she knew those feelings would never really go away completely. They were still closer to the surface than they had been before Jack Potts had resurfaced, but considering that he'd spent the last two days barricading himself away from everyone, this was a spectacular improvement.

"Hey there sleepyhead." Stark's snarky greeting pulled her out of her assessment of her partner, and her eyes flicked to him quickly with one eyebrow raised. "We were beginning to think you'd gotten caught in your own web."

"Can't a girl sleep in once without getting the third degree?" she asked lightly, before allowing her eyes to flash. "Besides, Stark, the only one that needs to be worried about getting caught in a web is you."

"I feel threatened!" Tony threw his hands into the air and jumped off his stool, ducking behind Pepper's amused form.

The group laughed, and Natasha felt her smirk widen when Clint's voice joined in with them. Only she would be able to hear the slight note of hesitancy in the sound, but she caught his gaze again reassuringly, and held it, even as he jerked both hands that were still resting on the handles of the pans, this time flipping the pancakes onto the stack on the other side of the stove.

Without even thinking about it, she reached out and snagged one of the light, warm and fluffy pancakes mid-air, bringing it back closer to her with a grin as the other landed perfectly on the stack. She tore off a piece and popped it into her mouth even as he gave her a mock exasperated expression, pouring a generous blob of batter into each pan.

"You didn't let me steal one early." Tony complained in a way that was a centimeter from being called a whine, and Clint just turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised.

"She's cuter." the archer said as if it were obvious, causing Thor and Bruce to chuckle while Pepper pursed her lips, clearly trying to hide her amusement, Steve just gave his head a small shake of amazement.

"Hey Legolas, I've got a question." Tony perked up, returned to his stool and spoke again within a few moments, his eyes bright and mischievous. "Considering a black widow's reputation, are you concerned that-,"

"Stark, what's about six inches behind me and to my left?" Natasha spoke to cut him off, her tone innocent as she ripped off another piece of pancake and waited for his response.

"Ah, the knife block?" the billionaire responded as almost a question, and Natasha just gave a slow nod.

"And what will happen if you even think about finishing that sentence?"

"You'll throw one at me?"

"Mm hmm." she nodded again, and he smirked but raised his hands in surrender.

"I don't know, Nat, should I be concerned?" Clint's teasing voice sounded then, his eyes glittering with barely contained amusement as her eyes turned to him next, clearly disapproving. After a heartbeat, however, she changed her expression to a coy smile and let one hand lightly ghost his shoulder.

"No." she said quietly, tone almost seductive. "But that's what I always say."

"Alright, alright. Can we get through breakfast first, please, before you go trying to test that? And maybe go somewhere a little more private? Bruce questioned, though there was a note of laughter to his tone due to the assassins' antics, and Natasha's expression returned to normal and Clint looked up with a smirk before flipping the pancakes.

Before either assassin could respond, the elevator dinged and Jack and Marie stepped out, both of their expressions looking stunned.

"Turn on the news." Jack said gruffly, nodding to the TV with his hand wrapped around Marie's waist.

"JARVIS?" Tony prompted quickly as they all slipped off their stools and moved closer to the TV as it instantly flicked to life, showing a live newsreel from outside a police precinct.

Clint stopped at the edge of the counter, arms crossed across his chest and shoulders stiff, even as Natasha moved silently up to stand with him.

'_-Ortega, a known operator inside a prominent drug cartel was killed in police custody very early this morning. An NYPD officer, who has since admitted to working for the same cartel on the side, has been arrested for the murder. There is no word yet on any sort of motive for such a bizarre crime, but you can be assured that we will be providing you with information as it is released. Now-,'_

"Mute." Tony cut off the anchor in the otherwise silent room, everyone but Clint and Natasha showing some form of surprise on their faces.

"Told you I took care of it." Clint reminded easily after a few beats of silence, moving back to the stove to get the pancakes out of the pans before they burned. As Natasha watched with a critical eye, he forced his shoulders to relax but couldn't help an edge of darkness that entered his gaze again.

"What in the world did you do?" Steve asked, walking back over to stand at the counter again as Natasha grabbed plates from the cabinet, seeing as Clint had flicked the stove off and set the pans in the sink.

The archer cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the Captain, and then the entire group that was watching him curiously, and gave a shrug.

"All I did was shoot an arrow into the guy's wall with a note telling him to leave the witnesses to Ortega's crime alone. All of them. But like I said, we've been acquainted before. He probably didn't want Ortega spilling information for a deal once it became clear that he wasn't getting any help from the cartel." he said as he began to divide the pancakes between the plates Natasha passed him.

"So you're telling us that a drug lord is scared shitless enough of you to have his own number two murdered, outing the cop he had on payroll in the process?" Tony asked, his voice betraying his impressed shock.

"Seems so." Clint said simply, grabbing two of the plates, passing one to Natasha before snagging the syrup out of the pantry and moving to the table.

"That's pretty impressive." Bruce pointed out, grabbing a plate as well and following suit.

"Even I can understand the significance of such actions." Thor agreed, grabbing one of the two plates piled with double the amount of pancakes as the others, Steve sliding the other similar plate towards himself.

"Come on, you've got to give us the background for this." Tony said, grabbing two of the remaining plates for himself and moving to the rapidly filling table with Pepper. "The suspense is killing me."

"Pancakes?" Clint offered to Jack and Marie, jerking his head to the two remaining plates on the counter and completely ignoring Tony. Instead, he slathered his plate in syrup and cut off a bite with his fork. As he did so, Jack and Marie took the plates he'd pointed out and moved to find seats in between Pepper and Bruce.

"Come on, Barton. Please?" Tony was now actually whining, practically bouncing up and down in his seat.

"If it helps, I'm curious too." Bruce offered, Steve and Thor giving quick nods of agreement, though they had already stuffed their mouths with pancakes.

"It's not that exciting." Clint relented after casting one quick glance around the table and noting everyone's similar expressions. "Before Eddie Menendez ran the cartel, it was his older brother's business based in Argentina. SHIELD gave me _him_ as a target in 2010. I went in when they were at a port, seeing to a shipment that was coming in. My orders were to put down Menendez and as many of his top lieutenants as I could before my position was compromised. Marco, that was the older brother's name, had been getting a bit too cocky with his operations; there was a laundry list of reasons SHIELD wanted him put down. Murder, terrorizing the innocents that lived in the town where he had made his base, and a bunch of other things that didn't even take into account the drug trafficking. Eddie happened to be standing with his brother when I put an arrow in his heart. I then proceeded to take out all five of the men in my file before they could get to cover. Afterwards, he tried to track down who was responsible, wasn't really difficult; I'm the only assassin who has the calling card of using a bow and arrow. His fear has always trumped his anger, and from what I've heard he's a paranoid bastard now. But SHIELD managed to get quite a few agents in the cartel's operations long-term since then. No one I recognized from last night, thankfully." Clint ended with a somewhat bored tone, returning to his pancakes with a small shrug.

"Oh, no. That's not exciting." Tony scoffed with a roll of his eyes that had Bruce snorting into his plate.

"It was just another mission." Clint informed him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "You do realize that drug lords, arms dealers, terrorists… typically make up my list of targets, don't you?"

They all paused when the archer's phone rang from his pocket, and he quickly fished it out, turning his eyes briefly heaven-ward and muttering under his breath when he read the caller-ID before answering it.

"Barton." he answered, scowling and rubbing his temple at the obviously furious voice on the other end of the line. "Yes sir, that was me… Yes sir, that too. I was trying to protect-,"

The rest of the table flinched as one when muffled, livid shouts came from the phone then, Fury's distinct voice easily audible to all of them. Jack and Marie looked to be the most confused out of all of them, while the rest of the team was simply sympathetic. Clint gave no reaction other than to hold the device a few inches from his ear and give a slight, inaudible sigh and close his eyes.

"Sir, I'm an assassin, I'm pretty sure 'vigilante' is in my job description." he said tonelessly, not reacting at all when the shouts came again. "I understand sir… No, sir… Yes sir, I remember… Yes, sir… I know, sir… No, sir… Yes, sir… Yes, sir… It won't happen again… You're probably right, sir… I'll keep that in mind."

Clint rubbed his ear as he ended the call and tossed his phone down onto the table, one eyebrow raising as he considered the device.

"FYI, my next mission is probably going to involve me sitting and doing absolutely nothing in the ass-crack of the world, probably with some hellish environmental condition, for at least a month." the archer said dryly, before giving his head a slight shake and turning back to his pancakes as Natasha gave her own sigh.

"Is that what happened the last time you made him angry?" Steve was the first one to regain his voice out of the group, and Clint gave him an absent-minded nod.

"Yup. Spent four weeks tracking wildlife poachers across Africa in the middle of summer, during a drought. It wasn't a fun experience. I almost got eaten by a leopard once." Clint said airily, smirking as Tony sniggered, Thor's eyes brightened with mirth, Bruce smiled, and Steve just gave another disbelieving shake of his head. At the same time, Natasha rolled her eyes, while Jack and Marie shared a glance.

"What'd you do, steal its tree?" Bruce asked dryly, and the archer gave him a joking glare before returning to his pancakes again.

"Shut up, Banner." he muttered, making everyone else laugh. "Alright, how was I supposed to know that the leopard wouldn't appreciate company?"

"Because it's a leopard?" Tony offered sarcastically.

"I wouldn't think wildlife poachers would fall under SHIELD's concerns." Pepper said doubtfully, though it was clear she was hiding her own amusement.

"Oh no, these were _special_ wildlife poachers." Clint assured her sarcastically, expression completely serious. "Endangered international security."

"I see." Tony said, before snorting. "What'd you do to earn that one?"

"Brought Tasha in." Clint said matter of factly, casting a quick grin towards the Russian assassin who just returned it unashamedly. He then pointedly ignored Jack Potts' gaze that was directed at him as he turned back to his plate. So maybe saving the man's life was easier than starting a conversation. He was okay with that. "Now can I please eat my damn pancakes?"

His tone wasn't actually angry, so no one took it seriously, but they did move conversation away from Clint, and what he had done. Natasha, however, had adopted an expression of muted concern, but waited until everyone else's attention had been successfully diverted before she leaned in closer to him and spoke quietly.

"Вчать эксацтлы дед Фуры сай?" (What exactly did Fury say?) she muttered under her breath, but he just shook his head slightly.

"Не волнуйтесь. Ничего не происходит запись." (Don't worry. Nothing is going on record.) he responded in the same tone, but she didn't look convinced, turning so their gazes met.

"Если Совет считает, что вам мешает работе ..." (If the Council thinks you interfered with an operation…) she protested quietly, but he just gave her a reassuring glance, lightly touching one hand to her leg under the table to calm her.

"Они не будут знать. Ярость все еще должен мне за то, что произошло в Лос-Анджелесе с Napier. Он не говорил им ничего об этом. Ничего не произошло, нет никаких оснований." (They won't know. Fury still owes me for what happened in L.A. with Napier. He's not telling them anything about this. Nothing happened, there's no reason to.) Clint explained quietly, and she snorted, eyes still slightly worried.

"Он вам это сказал?" (He told you that?) she demanded shorty, and he nodded.

"да." (Yes.) he said firmly. "Он злится, но не сердится, Nat." (He's angry, but not _that_ angry, Nat.)

Both looked up when Tony's voice sounded loudly, or rather, louder than the previous conversation that had been going on around them.

"Oh, don't mind them. They _frequently_ speak in Russian so we have no damn clue what they're saying." the billionaire sounded vaguely aggravated, and both assassins turned their eyes to him, Natasha with an indifferent expression, while Clint gave him a cocky smirk.

"Well, Stark, if you want to know what we're saying, guess you'll just have to learn Russian." the archer said brightly, and Tony just scowled.

"No, because then you'll both just go off in another random language like Dutch." Tony said sourly, to which Natasha looked to her partner and shrugged.

"Waarschijnlijk." (Probably.) she agreed, even though he would have no idea that was what she was doing. He would just recognize the change in language, and presume it was Dutch. Which it was.

"Ik ben niet helemaal vloeiend Nederlands." (I'm not quite fluent in Dutch.) Clint reminded lightly, his smirk widening as Tony gave a loud groan and rolled his eyes, and Bruce laughed quietly to himself while the rest of the table just watched the interaction with amusement. "Paano tungkol sa Pilipino?" (How about Filipino?)

"Ngunit maaari kong panatilihin up sa iyo." (But then I could keep up with you.) Bruce spoke up then, surprising the two assassins, before he shrugged. "Kadalasa'y." (Mostly.)

"Upang malaman namin ang lihim na pag-uusap na may Bruce sa Pilipino." (So we know to have secret conversations with Bruce in Filipino.) Natasha pointed out, now looking amused as well with Tony's obviously rising frustration.

"Alright, alright." Steve played the peace-keeper quickly before an argument could start. "Tony, you know that they're not just going to tell us what they were talking about, they had the discussion in Russian for a reason. And you two don't need to language hop just to annoy him."

"He annoys us all the time." Natasha pointed out, rolling her eyes when Tony childishly stuck out his tongue at her.

"What are we, ten?" Pepper asked, her tone exasperated, and not just at Tony.

"How many languages can you two speak?" Marie asked curiously, looking to the two assassins who shrugged simultaneously.

"Quite a few." Natasha said evasively, standing and grabbing both hers and Clint's plates as the archer leaned back in his seat with his coffee mug.

They all looked up when Jack cleared his throat a few moments later, before he spoke, eyes seeking out Clint.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" the judge asked gruffly, standing as he did so, and Clint stiffened slightly, meeting the other man's green gaze.

"Sure." Clint pushed himself out of his seat and walked towards the elevator. He wanted to ask the man why he just didn't blurt out whatever he wanted to say in front of everyone else, like he had proved he didn't mind doing before, but he kept his mouth shut. After all, his ultimate goal was to make Jack Potts _not_ hate him.

He was well aware of the eyes of everyone else following them as they both stepped onto the elevator, Clint pressing the button for the roof easily. If the other man had a comment about their destination, he didn't make it, the short, two-floor ride up completely silent.

It was windy and cold when Clint stepped out onto the vacant roof, moving over to the edge and balancing in an easy crouch overlooking the city before he turned to look at Jack, who was eyeing his position with a raised eyebrow.

"Doesn't bother me." he said simply, not needing to hear the question asking how he could be comfortable putting his back to a nearly hundred-story drop that was only inches away. He got it from everyone. "What did you want to talk about?"

He wasn't stupid, he knew what was most likely to come out of the man's mouth next, but that was the easiest way he saw to start the conversation.

"Look, Barton, I just wanted to say thank you. For what you did last night." Jack said gruffly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking completely uncomfortable. Even so, he held Clint's gaze unflinchingly, which was no less than what the archer expected. "You didn't have to follow us; you didn't have to protect us. In fact, you had most every reason not to."

"You're welcome." Clint nodded easily, expression cool but otherwise empty of emotion. "Like I told Pepper, I wasn't going to let you do something… ill-advised and get killed for it."

"It was stupid." Jack corrected knowingly, and Clint snorted but nodded again.

"Sure was."

They were both silent for a moment, and Clint silently wondered if that was going to be the extent of the conversation before the older man spoke up again, his voice hard.

"And I also wanted to apologize for what I said the other night. I especially should know better than to make accusations without knowing all the facts. I don't pretend to condone what you do, but…" Jack trailed off and Clint gave a slight sigh, running his hand down the back of his head before he responded.

"Don't apologize." he eventually said stiffly, making Jack blink at him in confusion. "Because to be perfectly honest, when you put me away, it was completely true. I don't make excuses for myself. I know I have innocent blood on my hands, and I am more than aware of the fact that if you hadn't put me into prison there would have been God knows how many more innocent names in my ledger. So I should be thanking you."

The older man was staring at him in shock by the time that he finished, but managed a slow, disbelieving shake of his head after a few moments.

"Your attitude sure has improved in the last seven years, I'll give you that." he said dryly, and Clint snorted, remembering how he had been acting the last time he had met the man, as an eighteen year old.

"I needed a swift kick in the ass." he said as way of explaination. And Coulson had certainly given him that.

Jack nodded in understanding, and waited a few beats in silence before he offered his hand to Clint, who blinked at it for a moment, hiding his surprise. He then shook it easily, giving the man a smirk and watching as he walked back towards the elevator.

He then turned and gazed out over the city for a few moments once he was alone, more than relieved that the conversation was over. It had even been civil. It wasn't long before he was slipping into the air ducts, making his way easily towards the training gym.

He hovered in the rafters for a minute or two after he arrived, watching Thor and Natasha spar. They were the only two currently in the gym, and both were completely focused on their fight not noticing his arrival. Smirking, Clint waited for an opening before dropping down to join in, pairing up with Natasha against the demi-god.

Thor gave a laugh to his challenging smirk, adjusting his style to combat both his attackers.

They'd fought like this before, the two assassins paired together against the blonde Asgardian. That way Thor got more of a challenge than he did against just one of them, and Clint and Natasha got to practice their moves together, as a seamless pair. Usually to find a challenge where they could fight side by side, they had to go down to general training at SHIELD and cajole a group of new agents into going against them. And they could never get the same group to do it twice.

Thor was quick for his size, and pinning him down was virtually impossible, even for both assassins, and as such, their matches usually ended in a draw. This was no different. After a little over a half an hour Thor stepped back off the mat, both Clint and Natasha taking pride in the fact that the demi-god was at least breathing heavily, despite the fact that he seemed mostly unaffected by their blows.

"A worthy bout, as always my friends." Thor told them with a smile as they all relaxed, Natasha tossing Clint a spare towel as she grabbed her own.

"Back at 'cha." Clint responded with a smirk, gingerly stretching his side that had caught one of the demi-god's blows.

"How'd it go with Jack?" Natasha asked curiously and the archer gave a small shrug.

"Fine. He thanked me, I said you're welcome; he apologized, I told him not to. We're fine." he said simply, and Natasha nodded slowly, not questioning. Thor, however wasn't quite as accepting of that explaination.

"Why would you tell the man not to apologize for his words?" he asked shortly, eyes narrowing.

"Because at one point at least, they would have been true." Clint met the demi-god's gaze, tone light. He didn't know whether to be exasperated, or relieved somehow at the doubt that colored the other man's expressions with those words.

"Somehow, friend Hawk, I doubt that to be true." Thor said, but otherwise dropped the subject.

Clint walked over to the pull-up bar, speaking as he jumped lithely up onto it.

"So where's Steve?"

"After you and Jack left, Pepper said something about having some work she had to get done before the holidays, and Tony got this weird look on his face before asking about the date. He seemed legitimately surprised that we're in the second week of December, and then he and Steve started conspiring about something and left." Natasha explained, sounding as if she would have been confused by the actions, if they hadn't been talking about Tony Stark.

"I'm sorry, Nat, but I really don't think you can use Steve and the word 'conspire' in the same sentence." Clint grunted as he flipped himself over the bar a few times before pausing again and looking to her with his chin resting just over it. "I just don't think it's possible."

"Fine. Stark was conspiring, Steve went along with it curiously." she corrected herself and Clint nodded slightly, keeping himself perfectly still.

"Alright. That works better." he said, and Natasha rolled her eyes while Thor chuckled.

The three spent another two hours in the gym doing various activities. Clint was just putting down his bow to go collect the arrows he'd fired on the other end of the range when JARVIS' voice sounded from above them, the AI's tone almost amused.

'_Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, Thor; Mr. Stark is requesting everyone's presence in the common area.'_

"What did he do, JARVIS?" Natasha asked, stepping back from the punching bag she'd been using.

'_He went shopping.'_ the AI informed them matter of factly, and the two assassins shared a slow glance while Thor looked just as confused as they did.

"For what?" Clint asked incredulously.

'_I've been instructed not to say. But he is rather impatient.'_

"Would it be inappropriate to say that I am concerned for what waits for us?" Thor asked as Clint secured his bow and practice quiver in the weapons' room to be retrieved later and all three made for the elevator.

"No, Thor, I am very concerned." the archer informed him lightly, making both of his companions chuckle.

They all stopped dead just inches after exiting the elevator, nearly running into Bruce who had stopped in a very similar position.

In front of them, sat what was probably the tallest Christmas tree Clint had ever seen in a private home. It was in what had formerly been an empty space to the left of the TV, almost brushing the partition that separated the common area from the narrow circular hallway that housed the doors to their rooms. In addition to the massive tree, that was a good four or five inches taller than Thor, there were a few large boxes of what looked like Christmas decorations.

Currently, Steve was standing to the side of the couches with a sheepish expression while Pepper stood directly in front of a slightly alarmed Tony.

"What do you mean you 'flew the tree up through the elevator shaft'?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

"Well, it's not like there's any easy accessible windows on this floor… And well, it wasn't going to fit into the actual elevator, so…" Tony trailed off, thankfully sounding vaguely apologetic. That was gone in the next moment when he spun to put an arm around her shoulders and turned so they were both facing the tree. "Come on, Pep, admit it. It's an awesome tree."

"It is a very nice tree." she nodded slightly, though her anger seemed to have simmered into exasperated annoyance.

"So… We're doing Christmas?" Clint asked into the silence that followed the argument, some unreadable emotion in his expression and tone.

"We, Legolas, are most definitely doing Christmas." Tony said brightly, turning to look at the archer and giving him a wide grin, which he was surprised to see returned almost instantly.

"Awesome."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Thor's curious voice sounded next, and Tony clapped his hands together.

"Alright. Bruce, you start explaining the situation to Goldilocks. Featherhead, you're on lights, they're in the boxes. Romanoff, Rodgers, me and Pepper will get started on this here tree." the billionaire said brightly, and Pepper patted him lightly on the arm, a small smile now on her face.

"I've got a few quick things I've got to finish up, and then I'll be back to help out." she assured him, and he made a face and pouted but nodded.

"Fine." he said, kissing her quickly when she leaned in. "What are the rest of you just staring for? Let's get this started. JARVIS, give us some festive music."

"What made you think of this, Stark?" Natasha asked as she watched Clint move over to the boxes, pawing through them and collecting the reels of Christmas lights. She could see the excitement hidden in his expression, and knew that he loved this idea probably more than Stark did.

"Well, it's just about Christmas-time, Romanoff. That's generally when people get out trees and lights and ornaments and string them up everywhere." Tony said as if it was obvious, snatching a reel of lights from Clint before he could take them all. "For the tree, Featherhead. Steve, catch."

"I didn't think you were a very festive person." she remarked, and he raised an eyebrow at her, pausing in his actions.

"I'm truly and deeply hurt by that. And what's with all the judgment?" he demanded before sobering slightly at her glare and tossing his head over to Bruce. "Banner. When was the last time you full-out celebrated Christmas?"

"Uh, not since before the incident, Tony. Haven't really had the opportunity." the doctor said, slightly confused by the question, from where he sat with Thor at one of the couches.

"Right. Capsicle, same question." Tony continued pointedly, the super soldier looking up from where he was starting to unravel the reel of lights.

"Like actually had a tree and all? Before the serum. After, we were too busy fighting HYDRA." he said simply, and Tony nodded acceptance, looking to Clint next, the archer's eyes on the ceiling, as if mentally mapping out where he was going to hang the lights.

"Legolas, what about you?"

"Far too many years." he said evasively, not even looking back to the billionaire who snorted, but didn't look surprised.

"Thor doesn't even know what Christmas _is_, and you? Have you ever had a nice, calm, holiday Romanoff?" he asked, and she sighed but shook her head, hiding her surprise at the depth of Tony's reasoning. "_That's_ why. Now help me and Rodgers decorate the tree."

She relented then, privately agreeing with Tony in that this would be good for all of them.

After a few moments, Steve paused in what he was doing when he saw Clint moving towards the elevator.

"What's wrong, Clint?" he asked, somewhat concerned, but the archer just quickly waved him off, giving him a grin.

"Nothing, Cap. I've just got an idea."

Clint quickly went back to the gym and retrieved his bow, as well as the practice quiver he'd been using before. Tony wanted him to hang lights? Fine. But he'd do it his way.

None of the others noticed when he slipped back onto the floor and grabbed a reel of lights before retreating to the top of a tall bookshelf that held an eclectic collection of movies, games and books. Quickly situating himself, he affixed the end of the strand of lights where the wall met the ceiling before he unraveled a long length of lights, wrapping the strand twice around the shaft of an arrow. Making sure he had enough slack so that the entire reel didn't go flying, he nocked the arrow into his bow and took aim for where he wanted the next point to be. He was just about to loose the arrow when Tony's voice sounded from below him, far calmer than he'd expected.

"Barton, what in the hell are you doing?"

Clint smirked innocently and let go of the arrow, watching as it imbedded itself in the wall above the granite kitchen counter, a perfectly arcing length of lights in between the two points.

"Hanging lights."

"You're the one that gave him the job, Stark." Clint heard Natasha's voice comment simply from below him as he eyed his next target and quickly figured out how long the next strand would have to be.

"Of course, silly me. How else would a bow-wielding assassin hang Christmas lights?" Tony asked sarcastically, just as another arrow whizzed over their heads, a muted sound of impact heartbeats later. "That had better look awesome, Barton."

"It will."

There was no doubt in Clint's voice with that statement, which just made the rest of the team laugh, even Natasha lightly.

"And you're going to be the one fixing the arrow holes in the walls once we take the lights down. _And_ explaining this to Pepper, because for once, this wasn't actually my idea." Tony continued once they'd all calmed.

Clint just gave a slow nod, aiming carefully again before letting another arrow fly.

"I'll take the heat from your fiancée, don't worry, Stark." he said in an almost teasing tone that had the billionaire shooting a glare up to him. "And why fix the holes? I can just hit the same exact ones next year."

Clint suddenly paused in unwinding another length of lights, his eyes widening slightly as he considered his own words.

Next year.

He was already expecting this thing; this home; with the team to last. Almost instantly he started mentally berating himself because he should know better than to think something like this would last. Nothing ever did. It always got to the point where he was comfortable, willing to stick with it, before it was ripped out from under him and he had to start all over again.

Why should he expect this to be any different? Sure he was still with SHIELD, and he had lasted with them for seven years, but it was different now than it had been. Even the people he had known treated him with a greater distance than they had before. He couldn't walk through any base without being watched carefully. And Phil… Phil was gone. It had ended bloody, just like he had always knew it would.

Even with all that rock-solid reasoning in his mind, he couldn't help the hope that was building inside him as he gazed down at the team that was laughing and joking below him. Maybe it wouldn't last forever, but he was willing to fight to make it last as long as he could. And despite the fact that it went against every instinct he had, he had already let himself get close, to plan ahead and think he was still going to be here tomorrow, with his team.

Giving his head a quick shake, he let a smirk spread across his face as he readied the next arrow, fixing it into his bow and firing easily.

It took exactly 26 arrows for Clint to string arrows the way he wanted them, and as soon as he'd finished he made everyone else stop what they were doing and had JARVIS turn off the lights while he moved to plug in the strands of Christmas lights that they could just vaguely see traversing the ceiling.

Grinning, Clint plugged in the only cord that went down to ground level, hanging down from the bookshelf he'd been shooting from.

"Holy hell, Barton." Tony was the first speak, eyeing the twinkling, multi-colored lights in appreciation as Thor made a sound of amazement, and Steve and Bruce chuckled quietly.

The lights went once around the edges of the common area, skirting the kitchen and dining area, before they went back and forth in a gentle arcing pattern between the edges of the area, and the small circle that had been formed with arrows around the top of the tree.

"Awesome enough for you?" Clint asked lightly, walking over to the rest of the group and brushing against Natasha's side, smirking when she leaned into him in a way that would be almost imperceptible to someone who wasn't looking for it, still gazing above them. He could see the carefully masked wonder in her eyes and he lightly wrapped one arm around her waist, looking up as well as Tony responded.

"I think that pretty much sums it up, yeah."

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**And there we have it. Christmas-time with the Avengers. Should be interesting. :) Please let me know what you think if you have time to leave a review, and the last chapter will be coming along soon.  
~Dogstar**


	14. Chapter 14

**I know this will come as a shock to all of you, but I _am_ actually alive. I am unbelievably sorry for how long this took; I wanted to have it up by Christmas, but that obviously didn't happen. The problem was that I didn't have any time at all to write, and this is a chapter I really wanted to do justice. So, I went for quality over speed.  
**

**Please don't hate me.  
**

**This chapter is taken up by a vast majority of dialogue, or reasons you'll see once you start reading, but I did my best to break it up a bit so hopefully it's not too monotonous. It's also shorter than I would have liked, but I found a good ending that I actually liked, so I stuck with it.**

**Thank you to everyone that has stuck with this, and continues to stick with me, despite my less than normal updates lately.**

**Other than that, I think I'll save all my other announcements for the end of chapter AN, so if your interested in knowing more about Glass, and when it will be coming to your computer screen, don't skip that one. Please (finally) enjoy.**

**_As Always, I Own Nothing_**

* * *

Clint precariously grabbed the handles of three coffee mugs in each hand, walking out of the kitchen and moving towards where the rest of the team was seated around the couches, bickering with each other as they tried to decide what movie they wanted to watch. Pepper had just left about a half hour ago to take her parents to the airport.

The rest of Jack and Marie's visit passed by quickly and uneventfully, but seeing how 'eventful' it'd been initially, no one minded that particular fact. Tony, Natasha, Thor, Bruce and Steve had been relieved as it became apparent that Clint wasn't going to return to the air ducts in the near future, the archer's personality returning to as normal as they could expect.

"What do you think, Legolas?" Tony asked loudly, cutting through Thor and Bruce's long-winded debate about something or another that the archer hadn't quite caught.

"Me?" Clint asked teasingly, eyes flashing as he sat all the cups down on the coffee table that was in the middle of their group. The only light currently came from the Christmas lights draped across the ceiling and wound around the now completely decorated tree. As a result of that, and the heat coming off the mug of hot chocolate that he had kept for himself, he found himself more content than he had been in a long time, sitting back onto a couch and smiling as Natasha leaned into his side, already having retrieved her own mug.

"Yes, you. You're the only one that hasn't chimed into this lovely debate. What's your preference on the movie?" Tony demanded, the others having fallen silent to wait for his response, leaning forward to grab mugs as well.

"Actually, I think I've got a different idea." Clint said lightly, meeting Natasha's gaze as her eyes stared into him sharply, her question clear. He gave her a nearly invisible nod in response, which just made her straighten, though her free hand stayed where it had been resting on his thigh. "Presuming Tony decides to not protest by getting up and walking out this time."

Almost as one, the others seemed to understand his implication and stiffened, leaning forward slightly.

"Clint, Tony was right, you don't have to-," Steve started, shaking his head, but Clint just gave him a small smirk.

"I know, Cap. As much as it _pains_ me to say, he was right." the archer said, making Tony give an insulted huff. "But… I want to tell you. I trust you all to know, and it not come back to bite me. You've all trusted me, and not pushed, and I'm unbelievably grateful for that. But it's not fair, after everything, for you to find out about my past from someone else, which could possibly happen again, who knows." he gave a slight shrug, looking over them, taking a sip from his mug, and steeling his resolve. "That alright for you?" he directed the teasing question to Tony, who gave a slight roll of his eyes, before sobering.

"Clint, as long as you're comfortable, you damn well _know_ how curious I am." he said dryly, and Clint snorted and nodded before leaning back into the couch and settling into a comfortable position.

"Like I started before, my parents… they were killed by a drunk driver when I was six and a half. My brother, Barney, was four years older than me, ten at the time. We weren't in the car; they had gone out, I can't remember why. We didn't have any grandparents, our only living family was our uncle on my father's side, but he was unmarried and overseas in the Marines. I was close to him, but he didn't have the means to care for two kids. Thought we'd be better off in a foster home or something. No family friends to take us either, so we ended up in an orphanage. I was smaller than most of the other kids. Quiet. Liked to climb things. Neither Barney nor I had much going for us, adoption wise. Mostly because he got into fights with the others trying to protect me when they started picking on me." Clint paused there, taking another sip of his hot chocolate into the complete and utter silence in the room as the others listened attentively. "Our uncle came to visit us while he was on leave just after I turned seven. I remember begging him to take us with him. I didn't understand then; do now, of course, but not then. That was the last time I saw him. He didn't die or anything, not that I know of at any rate, but Barney and I actually got adopted.

"Middle-aged couple. Heather and Lenny Fisher. She was nice, kind of withdrawn. She wanted kids; couldn't have any. _He_ was hell-spawn. Shouldn't have been let within 500 yards of any kid, ever. Didn't know that in the beginning though, and we went home with them, thinking at least we'd have a home, wouldn't have to share everything with twenty other kids. Turned out that we were better off at the orphanage." Clint paused again, looking up to gauge the expressions of his teammates so far. Thor was watching him with a slight frown, Steve's eyes were narrowed slightly, Tony's were widened as if surprised, while Bruce's expression was a mixture of being knowing and sympathetic. Natasha was just watching him calmly, offering support through their continued contact if he wanted it. The archer sucked in a breath and shook his head slightly as he continued. "It wasn't even that he was drunk. He wasn't. He just threw us around and beat us for the hell of it."

At that, Thor made an angry sound under his breath of rumbling disbelief. Outside, the sky seemed to almost echo him, and without even getting up to look, Clint knew that dark clouds would be building around them. The fact that the demi-god had been the first to react didn't escape him, nor did it surprise him. Clint waited a few moments, warring with himself about just how much he wanted to tell them. When he finally did continue, he kept his voice as light as possible, ignoring the memories that resurfaced as he talked about his adoptive father.

"Barney tried to protect me as much as he could, purposefully did things to make him angry to get his attention away from me. It worked for a while, but then he caught on, hit me when Barney pissed him off and vice versa. Left scars on both of us; a majority of which I've still got. It got to the point when I was nine that they pulled us both out of school so no one got suspicious. Said we were being home-schooled, but that didn't really happen. Heather… she hated what she had brought us into, but she was just as afraid of him as we were. We didn't know what to do, we were scared, we were kids. When I was ten, Heather convinced Lenny to take us to a carnival that was in town. Barney just disappeared for almost an hour while we were there, and when he got back… I'll never forget the grin he had on his face. We ran away that night. Barney had talked to the man who ran the carnival, explained our situation. Old man Carson had some reservations; seeing as Barney hadn't told him he was bringing along his ten year old little brother, but he didn't turn us away.

"Carson… he's one of those zany old men with a heart of gold and always up for anything. He gave us food, shelter, and let us travel with the carnival, earning our keep through working with some of the props and vendors. I made friends, for pretty much the first time in my life. I took to acrobatics like the proverbial fish to water. And when I was twelve, I found my first bow in the prop tent." Clint paused there, giving a small smile into his mug as he remembered the simple, smooth wooden recurve bow he had learned on. He didn't look up to the others, grateful for their silence while he spoke. "I was a natural, obviously. A few nights of secret practice, and I was hitting pretty damn close to the bullseye every time. When Carson found me, I was sure that he was going to kick me out or beat me, or something. Instead, he watched me shoot for a bit, told me the bow was mine, and introduced me to my new mentor. The Swordsman, aka Jacques Duquesne; another marksman with a main act in the carnival. His main thing was throwing knives though. Amazing at what he did, less than amazing human being. He was rude, arrogant and greedy. But, I learned a lot from him. By the time I was fourteen, I could do trapeze and high wire with the best of them, outshoot anyone on the circuit blindfolded, and I had earned the nickname 'Hawkeye' for my act.

"I was happy. I probably could have stayed there the rest of my life and been perfectly content. Looking back, I should have noticed Barney pulling away from me, becoming more distant." Clint gave a small shake of his head, eyes narrowing before he looked up sharply when Natasha's hand lightly moved to his and squeezed. Her expression was outwardly blank, but he could see the subtle warning disbelief in her eyes, telling him that he should in no way blame himself for Barney's actions. He sighed and gave her a half shrug, squeezing her hand back before he looked up to the others again and continued. "Barney never really found his niche like I did. He just did whatever someone needed him to. He was great with the machinery, could get anything up and running, which was good, because Carson didn't have the most versatile budget. One night when I was sixteen, I was sitting above the animals' cages after I was strictly supposed to be there, when I heard Barney talking with the Swordsman. Arguing, really. They were skimming profits, stealing from Old man Carson. They didn't see me, obviously, didn't know I was listening. I couldn't believe that Barney would do something like that to the man that had all but saved our lives; giving us a way to get away from our adoptive father."

Clint had visibly stiffened at that point, one hand clenched tightly around his mug while the other held Natasha's. The others' eyes were fixed on him intently, curious but also wary to an extent, knowing that something had to have happened between the archer and his brother.

"There were others in on the scam too, but I never found out exactly who. I waited a few days, didn't say anything and watched them both closely. After two days, I confronted them both in the middle of the night, while everyone else was asleep. Barney had been working on one of the rides, and they were talking. Needless to say, they weren't exactly happy that I found out. They tried to reason, offered to cut me in, but I wasn't buying any of their bull. Told them I was going to tell Carson if they didn't stop. It was stupid, I know, and maybe I should have taken Barney's side, after everything he had done for me. But Carson… I just couldn't. Barney was pissed, but the Swordsman… he was livid. Started beating the crap out of me right then and there. Barney just watched." Clint paused, fighting to keep his voice level. Even after nearly a decade, it still hurt like hell to even think about the night Barney betrayed him. He vaguely heard someone mutter something under their breath, but he ignored it, forcing himself to continue instead, eyes staring at nothing. "After I managed to get over the shock of what the Swordsman was doing, and what Barney _wasn't_, I fought back. Couldn't fight then like I can now, though, and I just barely managed to break the bastard's nose and send him reeling for a bit. I started running, because I knew he was going to get back up and just be even angrier. Barney caught me by the shoulder, asked me why in the hell I couldn't have just done something for him for once, and put a knife in my back."

Clint desperately wanted to finish this part of the story as quickly as possible, but the shocked exclamations of the others cut him off for the moment. The thunder, which had calmed outside, redoubled in an instant. Without even realizing what he was doing, still more caught up in the memory than paying attention, Clint flinched slightly and pulled back into the couch, lowering his eyes.

Almost at once the team noticed and quieted, even without Natasha's hiss of warning.

"Clint?" Natasha asked quietly after a handful of heartbeats, and the archer looked up to her sharply, meeting her gaze before letting out a long sigh, pushing down the phantom pains from the wound-turned-scar on his back. He gave a short nod to her as he collected his emotions, berating himself for letting them overwhelm him.

"Your brother… stabbed you in the back." Tony's words were more statement than question, the billionaire's tone short but purposefully empty.

Clint just looked to him and gave a small nod, looking to the rest of the group as well. Steve's expression was plainly horrified, though an undertone of realization sparked in his eyes as well. Thor was simply furious, as the quickly brewing thunderstorm outside could attest to. Bruce… Clint couldn't help a wince of apology when he saw the jaded tinge to the doctor's usually brown gaze. To his credit, though, Bruce just gave him a quick nod of reassurance, forcing himself to relax. Returning his eyes to Tony, Clint faltered slightly when he saw that Stark's expression was completely devoid of any emotion, something he had never seen, but knew could mean nothing good.

"I was lucky that the way he angled the blade got it caught between two ribs before it could get anywhere near my heart like he meant it to." Clint explained, his voice even quieter than it had been before, not bothering to mask the pain and hurt that he still felt, almost a decade later. "As it was, it still nicked my lung, and bled and hurt like hell. Barney and the Swordsman walked away and left me there. I was doubly lucky that the prop master heard the commotion and came to check on what was going on. He found me before I could bleed out, got me to the hospital. By the time I woke up, there wasn't a single trace of either Barney or Duquesne. They had taken the money they'd skimmed so far and ran. I did end up telling Carson what had happened, though I only ever told anyone that it was Duquesne that had stabbed me. Telling them that my own brother had tried to kill me… Something about that had absolutely no appeal. One thing I can say about Carson, was that he didn't so much as move that carnival until I was ready to leave the hospital. He didn't care that he missed two stops by doing that, on top of what he'd already lost from Barney and Duquesne.

"But, as you can probably guess, therein lies the major root of my trust issues." Clint paused there, giving a dark smirk and receiving equally dark and unamused snorts in response. "Barney had been the one person I could lean on, had been the only one looking out for me and protecting me since I was six years old. And then he tried and nearly succeeded in killing me. To put it plainly, it shattered me into a couple million pieces, and I'm still not sure I've found the all. I stayed with the carnival while I healed, but it was different; darker somehow. I couldn't bring myself to trust a single one of them. As soon as I was strong enough, I left too. Didn't really have anywhere to go, or anyone to go to. I was sixteen, a runaway, barely educated, and the one thing I knew I could do was shoot. So I figured what the hell, knew a guy who could get me fake papers, and joined the Army.

"Now, I may not be the biggest guy, but I've always been able to pass off for older than I actually am. And once they saw me shoot, they wouldn't have given a damn how old I was. It was grueling and wasn't always fun, seeing as I may have a small problem with authority, but I had a purpose and that was leaps and bounds better than before. I got through basic training, sniper school, and was overseas in a little less than six months. Served for another seven before shit hit the fan."

"Hasn't that happened enough already?" Steve interjected, sounding uncharacteristically aggravated, making Clint glance up to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I definitely thought so, but apparently life didn't agree with us on that Cap. I got into it with my CO over a shot I had been ordered to make and refused. It was bad, I knew that. Bad vantage point, strong winds, and a mess of civilians between me and my target. I wasn't willing to risk it. My CO had somehow found out about my age; I still don't know how. Told me that I was there to follow orders, and that if I so much as stepped out of line again, he was reporting me. We didn't get along on the best of days, and military prison definitely didn't appeal." Clint paused there, giving a slight shake of his head and a sigh. "I deserted; ran off. I'm not proud of it, at all, and I still don't know if it was the right decision, but at the time I didn't see much else choice. I did a lot of running when I was a kid, then included. I was stupid, cocky, alone, and beneath it all, I was afraid. What happened with Barney… made it pretty damn clear that the only one I should trust was myself. Even so, I had no damn clue what I was doing, and it wasn't long before the wrong crowd recognized an American deserter. It was simple; I killed who they wanted and they didn't turn me in, and then they paid me so I didn't come back and kill _them_." Clint snorted and gave a small shrug, looking back up to the others again, expression hard. "And, well, you can pretty much guess what happened from there. I couldn't go back to the States, I didn't have anyone or anywhere to go back to anyway. I bought a new bow with that first paycheck, I took up the name Hawkeye again, and I didn't look back. I killed 143 people on contract. I'm not going to pretend they were all innocent, but I didn't know or care at that point either way. It's not like with SHIELD. Most contracts get you a name, a picture, and a possible location. Not much other than that, which I was perfectly fine with. The less I knew, the better."

Clint sighed and shook his head, swirling his mostly cooled hot chocolate in the mug before taking a sip.

"I mostly stayed in Europe, ventured in to Asia and Africa from time to time. Picked up a couple languages here and there, saw the world, got paid like crazy… If you looked past the killing innocent people part, it wasn't a bad gig." Despite the try at a joke, Clint's voice was hard and cold. For that reason, the others didn't react, patiently waiting for him to continue. "It was almost a year before I dared to even try to go back to the States. I was pretty sure I was wanted, seeing as the Army isn't exactly fond of deserters. It just figures that I only managed about four months before I screwed something up and got caught. I assume Jack told you about the hit that got me put away?"

Natasha was the first to nod an affirmative, the others following suit just as silently. Clint gave a quiet chuckle, actually rolling his eyes which made Steve and Bruce shoot him confused expressions, though neither actually voiced a question.

"I was a lot more cocky back then than I am now; had that whole 'nothing can touch me' attitude. Considering I was eighteen, I guess it's not that surprising. Anyway, I got convicted on murder, sent to federal prison. I probably could have escaped if I had wanted to; I toyed with the idea a few times; but I guess I always thought on some level that I deserved to be there. So, a little less than four months pass before Phil shows up in my cell, offers me a job. Of course, the first thing he tells me is that he's surprised he got to me before I could escape and get back to Europe. I told him I was done running, and to go screw himself."

Clint glanced up as a bolt of disbelieving laughter escaped from Tony, who looked vaguely apologetic, but still overly amused. Clint just gave a slight grin of his own before continuing.

"Yeah, he thought that was pretty funny too. He then proceeded to tell me that through SHIELD, I could get my record expunged, get out of jail, and go back to doing what I was good at, only this time doing it to help people. He fought dirty; played the guilt card, told me he'd been watching me for a while and that he didn't think I was as hardened and cold as I made out to be. He gave a laundry list of examples that had me down-right horrified at the time, and I'm pretty sure I repeated the 'go screw yourself' remark at least once. So then I just started ignoring him. I didn't trust him, I thought he was playing me. So you know what the bastard did? He just sat there and _stared_ at me. For like two hours. I eventually asked what he was doing, and he told me he wasn't going anywhere until he got my answer. Then he said I wasn't as patient as he had expected, and I told him there was probably a lot he didn't know about me.

"Still don't know how, but he convinced me to at least try SHIELD. After we'd left the prison and gotten on the jet bound for base, he gave me my bow back. Said that SHIELD needed me at my best so they might as well give me my best weapon. I went through training with flying colors, but I didn't relax around any of them. Took on Coulson as my handler, which I am _sure_ he regretted at least a few times. My only vague acceptance of protocol isn't anything new. He stayed with me, though, didn't stop trying to convince me to trust him. Of course, he didn't manage to get it through my thick skull until the idiot took a bullet for me." Clint gave an exasperated shake of his head, eyes flashing with slight amusement as he looked up to see the only somewhat surprised expressions of the others.

"Really? You made the poor guy go that far?" Tony asked, clearly joking. Despite that, both Bruce and Steve sent him disapproving expressions, which Clint noticed before he responded.

"Well, Tony, it'd been a really long time since anyone had cared, and the ones that I _had_ trusted stabbed me in the back. In one case literally. Being an assassin in itself doesn't exactly breed trust either. So forgive me for thinking that Phil just wanted something from me and would toss me out as soon as he got it." the archer said lightly, raising a single eyebrow.

To Tony's credit, he hid his wince expertly, and simply gave a small shrug of reluctant agreement.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking." Bruce spoke up curiously, and Clint's eyes turned to him, giving a quiet snort.

"I was gathering information. I hadn't been with SHIELD long enough for word to get around, so Fury had me out checking with some of my old contacts for information about a man SHIELD was interested in. I was supposed to see if I could get a meeting. One of this guy's friends _happened_ to know someone I had taken out for SHIELD, and, well, nothing went nicely after that. I got into a fight, I mostly kicked their asses, but then a guy about the size of Thor through me out of a third story window. Suffice it to say that I was lucky to be getting up at all, and quickly just wasn't happening. Next thing I knew, Phil was throwing himself in front of me and getting shot in the left side of his back. By that time I had regained the ability to breathe, and I shot the man that had shot him, as well as his overly large friend that had tossed me out the window as they came out into the alley." Clint recounted simply, making Bruce shake his head slowly, while Steve tilted his head to the side questioningly.

"So you trusted him fine after that?" the Captain asked, and Clint just snorted.

"We had a good long talk after that." he corrected. "I won't say that I was automatically perfectly alright with him and SHIELD, but I was more… willing to pay attention as he _kept_ trying to prove that I could trust him. Which is pretty sad, seeing as he _did_ get shot and save my life." he then gave a small shrug, before looking back up. "You all pretty much know the basics from there. Four years after my recruitment, I was sent to kill Tasha, brought her in to SHIELD instead. We became partners. Another three years and we're teaming up with all you crazy asses to fight aliens in New York."

"Seriously, Featherhead, you should have a lot more issues than you do." Tony said matter of factly, giving a slightly disbelieving shake of his head.

"Probably." Clint agreed with a smirk, before he sobered and looked around at all of them again. "Look, I know that was probably more than you ever really wanted to know, but I'm done keeping secrets from you guys. So you know everything. I've only ever told two other people that entire story, and one is already in this room, and the other is dead. I'd kinda prefer to keep it that way."

"Of course, my friend." Thor spoke up first, voice somber. "We will gladly keep your secrets, you have naught to worry about."

"I didn't really think I did." Clint pointed out with a grin to the demi-god who returned it brightly. "So, do we still want to watch a movie?"

"I think we need to after that rather enlightening story." the billionaire spoke up again, lightly falling back into a more relaxed position on the couch. "Has anyone ever compared your life to a horror movie? If not, let me be the first."

"It wasn't _all_ bad." Clint protested, leaning back as well and looking around the room at his rather unlikely group of friends illuminated by nothing but twinkling Christmas lights, before wrapping an arm around Natasha's shoulders, smiling down at her. She returned it easily, meeting and holding his gaze reassuringly. "It landed me here, after all."

* * *

**So. That's my take on Clint's past, now shared with all the Avengers. I hope you enjoyed it. Please definitely feel free to tell me what you thought about that, and how Ties That Bind wrapped up as a whole. I just felt, with the mindset Clint was in after his realization in the last chapter, that this conversation definitely needed to take place.**

**Moving on to what else you all probably (hopefully) want to know about. I am going to be starting on Glass as soon as I possibly can. Which means tomorrow. But, to hopefully try to avoid the type of disaster like this one, I'm going to try to get a few chapters in before I start posting it. That being said, I will not let it go more than a month before I post the first chapter. So if by February 10th, you haven't seen it, feel free to send me angry messages demanding where it is.**

**I've got a couple one-shots that I have already written that I may or may not post during that wait, so be on the look-out for those too.**

**On a related note, I'm curious to see if any of you would be interested in a one-shot with Clint's uncle? Or any other one-shot ideas. If so, give them to me, and I'll see what I can do.**

**Until Glass, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this story and thank you all for your awesome reviews, favorites and alerts.  
~Dogstar  
P.S. If you want the summary for Glass, it's on my profile page.**


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